Quarantine on Von-Alai
by LPK9
Summary: During a routine mission to Von-Alai, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo find themselves in a quarantine zone. Darth Vader looms. AU set 2 years after the battle of Yavin. Now complete with Epilogue!
1. Chapter 1

Luke Skywalker carefully slowed the closed speeder as he joined the mass of traffic on the main street of Liana, the capitol city of Von- Alai. The city reminded him vaguely of the Tatooine town of Anchorhead, though it was far larger. But the dust, the miscellany of pedestrians and beasts of burden mixed with speeders and even the occasional archaic auto-car was quite similar to the town of his youth.

He was very ready to shake the dust of this sad planet off his boots and get out into space. Back to the Alliance Fleet, where he belonged.

Traffic stopped abruptly, and Luke stopped with it. With an irritable sigh, he glanced to the passenger to his right.

Leia Organa was frowning down at a datapad in her hand and it was a full minute before she realized they had stopped moving.

Luke forced himself to be patient. He'd been cooped up piloting this boring speeder for seven hours after a dull couple of days and he just wanted this journey over but Leia was the one who had done the intellectual heavy lifting, and he wouldn't disturb her hovertrain of thought.

She looked up now as if sensing his thoughts, and a startled look crossed her face, "What's wrong?"

"Traffic jam," Luke returned gloomily.

"Sorry," she replied absently, then her eyes narrowed. "I was just finishing an assessment on food needs for the sentients of the Chaor region. It has been a couple of decades since the Kontag factories were shut down, but they did so much damage that the ecosystems still haven't recovered. There is actual hunger here ..."

"I know," Luke agreed quietly. It was another reason that Von-Alai hit too close to home; hunger was a common occurrence on Tatooine as well.

The princess nodded, "I know you do. You saw this as a child and I didn't. Alderaan was a wealthy planet with plenty of food until ... up until it wasn't a planet at all."

Luke reached out and gently touched her arm. She had trouble talking about Alderaan, and whenever she did he was careful to acknowledge her words.

Traffic sped up again and Luke turned his attention back to driving the speeder. A few turns off the main road led them to a nondescript, gray building with few windows. He pulled into a rather grimy alley, glanced around carefully, then unlocked and opened the doors.

"I appreciate your help during the negotiations," Leia said as they exited the speeder and turned toward the building.

Luke shook his head, "I really didn't do anything."

"Luke," she stated firmly, "part of any war is making the right impression. I know you'd far rather be taking on a Star Destroyer with your X-wing regardless of the suicidal nature of such a raid. But I assure you that being at my side during these negotiations was critical. You destroyed the Death Star. You are our holoposter boy. The delegation specifically requested you. You _were_ a big help."

Luke made a rasping groan of dismay, and she grinned, "Sorry, it's just the way it is."

"I guess," he replied in a petulant tone. He really _would_ rather take on a Star Destroyer than stand around looking 'impressive.'

Leia winked at him and opened the door. They had obviously been expected because the Rebel guard inside nodded politely and gestured them toward a large room to the left of the door. Inside were two of Luke's favorite people.

"Han! Chewie!"

"Hey Kid," the tall, rangy Corellian replied, rising to his feet and coming over to slap the youth on the back. "Good to see you made it back. How'd the negotiations go?"

"Good, I guess," Skywalker replied in a disgruntled tone, "Boring though. Really really boring. I can't wait to get back to Rogue Squadron."

Han arched an eyebrow at the princess, who said tartly, "The talks were highly successful, Han. But I agree with Luke that the sooner we leave Von-Alai, the better. "

Chewbacca howled now, mournfully, even as Han shook his head slightly, "Well, there is a slight problem with that."

"More than slight," a man stated, rising from his dilapidated seat in the corner, "the entire planet of Von Alai has been locked down for quarantine as of two hours ago."

Leia and Luke gazed at one another in shock.

"What?" Luke demanded.

"Quarantine lock down," the man replied, "I'm Commander Kan, by the way. It's an honor to have you here, but regrettably you may have to stay for a while. There has been an outbreak of Blue Shadow Virus, the _airborne_ version, in the city of Thafos, about 500 km from here."

Leia gasped and paled, even as Luke frowned, "What's the Blue Shadow Virus?"

"Horrible disease, Kid," Han stated gloomily, "especially in its airborne, weaponized form. There is like a 95% death rate for humans and near humans without the antidote, and the antidote is hard to come by."

Leia took a deep breath, then said practically, "But we weren't anywhere near Thafos, Commander."

"I know," Kan said reassuringly, "and all cases were discovered there. Still, the Imperial governor has ordered a total quarantine lockdown of the planet until the situation stabilizes. And while I rarely agree with the Empire, they are right on this one. If Blue Shadow escapes Von-Alai, millions could die."

Luke shot a horrified look around the room, "Did anyone here ... Han, were you anywhere near Thafos?"

"'Course not, Luke," the man replied reproachfully. "Don't you remember that horrible knocking sound in the main engine as we landed? Chewie and I have been overhauling the ship the last few days. She's practically brand new."

Leia looked skeptical, but focused on the problem at hand, "Do you think we can get off planet surreptitiously? I mean, we're sure we're not sick, right?"

Kan shook his head firmly, "No, Princess, for two reasons. First, we should wait at least four days because that's the incubation period for Blue Shadow. I don't think we were exposed, but if we were – _if_ we were – and you made it back to the Alliance, it would be catastrophic to the Fleet."

Luke nodded unhappily, "That makes sense, Commander. What's the second reason?"

"The second reason is more pressing. Death Squadron is in space right now enforcing the quarantine. Anyone who attempts to escape Von-Alai will be shot down immediately."

Leia started in horror.

"Death Squadron?"

Han stepped forward to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Yes, Leia."

"So that means ... Darth Vader is probably up there."

/-

 _The Bridge_

 _The Executor_

 _In orbit around Von-Alai_

"My Lord?"

Darth Vader allowed two breathing cycles before turning to Captain Piett.

"Yes?"

"My Lord, the analysis chambers in the cities of Liana, Quanto, and Refor will be installed within six hours."

"And you are certain there are no other commercial landing bays on Von-Alai?"

"No, my Lord," the man returned immediately, "all landing bays are in those three cities. Indeed, because of pollution, magnetic patterns, and the random storms, there is but a narrow band of safety for departing and arriving ships. It would be foolhardy for someone to attempt to escape the blockade by penetrating the cloud cover more than 2.5 degrees north or south of the equator."

The Dark Lord nodded. He knew all this, but it was best to get a second ... opinion, perhaps? He rarely needed reassurance, but he did now. His son was down there somewhere.

"Very well, inform me when the analysis chambers are fully installed."

"Yes, my Lord."

/-

 _Rebel Enclave_

 _City of Liana_

 _24 hours later_

"Idiot's Array," Han said aloud, his eyes wide. "Not bad, Kid!"

Luke grinned and reached over to pull the dubious booty of the latest hand of Sabacc into his lap. Given his own poverty, and the fact that he was a young, wide eyed youth, he had refused to play for real credits with Han Solo. The man had, after all, won the _Millennium Falcon_ herself from an old frenemy.

Still, there was something to be said for a pair of decent socks, four ration bars, some blaster polish, a serviceable scarf and ... a tin of what smelled like slightly rancid nerf meat. Ick.

"Thanks, Han. So how was my sabacc face?"

"Better. I mean, you used to be horrible and now you're just bad. But with an Idiot's Array, you don't need much of a sabacc face."

The door slid open and with a swirl of dust, Commander Kan stepped into the room and stamped his feet.

"Any news?" Leia inquired. She had been regally ignoring the sabacc game in favor of writing a report on the political situation on Von-Alai.

"Yes, your Highness," Kan said with a nod, "I have good news. Reasonably good news, anyway. The landing bays have been opened and ships are now departing Von Alai."

"What's the 'sort of' part?" Solo asked suspiciously.

Kan frowned, "All landing bays have analysis chambers at their entrances. Apparently they've developed the tech to check everyone for the Blue Shadow virus."

There was a long, thoughtful pause.

"So as long as we're clean of the virus, which we should be, we won't get flagged," Luke stated, then added, "and if we do have it, it's probably better it's discovered before we infect the Alliance."

Han shook his head, "I don't like it. Analysis chamber? What if they run an additional check for weapons? Luke's lightsaber might raise some curiosity."

The Commander shrugged, "The bays opened an hour ago and my contacts say everyone is getting through without trouble. No cases of Blue Shadow have been discovered here, which is a fabulous thing. And plenty of weapons are passing through. Liana is a rough place. Weapons are expected."

Luke sighed aloud, "But still, if they are paying attention to everyone who goes into that bay, isn't it possible we'll be recognized? I mean, we are on the Most Wanted List."

Everyone mulled this over, then the princess spoke, "You're right, Luke. We'd better wear disguises. Especially you and me, since we're both front and center in the Imperial eye."

She rose to her feet briskly, "All right. Let's get gussied up, give it three more hours and if the situation seems stable, we'll go to the _Falcon_. Hopefully Vader doesn't recognize her, Han."

Solo sniffed disdainfully, "He got maybe a one second glance at her when I shot him out of the Death Star trench, and she looks like a million other freighters out there. And we've got the best codes the Alliance has to offer, which even I'll admit are very good. Deep inside, where it counts, the _Falcon_ 's better than them all, but she looks normal enough."

/

 _The Bridge_

 _The Executor_

 _In orbit around Von-Alai_

Darth Vader stood staring out at Von-Alai, his hands clasped behind his back.

He looked tall, menacing, and calm, but inside he was a maelstrom of emotion.

This _should_ work. But Luke had proven remarkably difficult to find, and it was possible that he would slip through his father's prosthetic digits again.

" _Patience,"_ Vader thought to himself, striving for precarious calm, _"patience."_

 _/-_

 _The_ Lonely Bantha _restaurant Yum!_

 _(near Landing Bay #9)_

 _Liana Spaceport_

 _3 hours later_

Luke gazed with delight at the dweezel in his bowl.

Han, Leia, Luke, and Chewbacca had settled in a drab, even rather sleazy, restaurant with a good view of the entrance to Landing Bay #9, where the _Millennium Falcon_ was waiting for them patiently.

(They hoped she was being patient. The Falcon had a rather peculiar main computer, which led to her making snarky comments when they were late.)

Luke was not much of a drinker, so had expected merely to imbibe water while waiting; to his joy and amazement the owner of the _Lonely Bantha_ was an expatriate from Tatooine, and sold dweezel.

He loved dweezel. And this dweezel was nearly as good as the dessert Aunt Beru used to make for him.

While he slurped down his pastry treat, the Rebels took turns watching the landing bay.

Landing Bay #9 had been completely closed off except for one main entrance. Blocking the entrance was a tall transparisteel box, 2 meters by 1 meter by 1 meter. Sentients stepped in one at a time, a bored tech worked his scientific magic, the individual in question endured a 5 second scan, the door opened on the other side, and the man or woman or Wookiee was on his way. There were four stormtroopers guarding the gate, but they seemed mellow enough and their only action was to make sure people stayed in line properly.

The queue of individuals waiting to enter the landing bay was rather long, but that wasn't a surprise after a day of quarantine. Many sensible people wanted to get off of Von-Alai with the fear of Blue Shadow virus lurking.

"Shall we?" Leia asked, rising from her chair. The others rose even as Luke shoveled the last bite of dweezel in his mouth. Then, after paying the bill, they left the restaurant and quietly took their places at the end of the line.

Chewbacca went first. He owed a life debt to Han and insisted that if there was some trap here, he wanted to spring it.

But there was indeed no problem when they finally reached the head of the line, except that the very tall Wookiee had to bend his head considerably to get into the scan chamber. There was a five second probe, the door opened on the other side, and the giant furball stepped out.

Solo went next. He had donned a scruffy and rather improbable beard as a limited disguise, and he too had no problem.

Leia stepped in once Han had exited. Luke, standing just behind her in line, smiled slightly. She had pinned up her hair and sprayed it with purple stripes, put in blue lenses to change her eye color, dolled up her face with gratuitous make-up, and was wearing an outfit that made her look like a swoop race groupie. He barely recognized her!

The door shut behind Leia, the tech pushed a button, five seconds passed and ... the door didn't open on the other side.

Luke stiffened, as did Han and Chewbacca.

The tech himself looked startled, then bewildered as he stared at the princess waiting with an irritated look in the chamber.

Then the man reached for a com.

" _Oh no_ ," thought Luke.

"Chewie, get the _Falcon_ ready for take-off," Solo muttered to his faithful co-pilot, even as he drifted off to the left, behind the technician operating the chamber.

/-

 _The Bridge_

 _The Executor_

There was an exclamation of excitement from one the men near Vader, and the Dark Lord spun quickly.

"What is it?" he demanded harshly.

"We have a positive identification, my Lord!"

The Sith nearly ran to the terminal and gazed down with an eagerness which quickly shifted to bewilderment.

A miscellany of Huttese curses ran through his brain as he attempted to make sense of the information on the screen.

 _Female human._

That was not right!

With a flick of the Force, he yanked the com from the technician, "This is Lord Vader. Do not move in. Stand down. This is an error!"

With another flick of the Force, he found the holocam in the analysis chamber for Landing Bay #9 in Liana. An image quickly formed of a short, human female with weird purple hair, an irritable slump, bizarre make-up, and a hideous scowl on her face. Vader snarled aloud, causing the nearby officers to jump slightly. This was clearly not Luke. Disguises would only go so far.

"Let her through and reset the analysis system," he ordered.

The last thing he needed was a false arrest which could spook his boy.

/-

 _Landing Bay #9_

Leia glowered at the tech, who was clearly listening to orders on his com. Han and Luke tensed.

Then the man lifted his eyes and nodded even as he pushed a button. The door slid open and Leia stepped out to walk firmly toward the _Falcon_ , though she stopped a few meters from the analyzer.

The technician rose to his feet now and addressed the impatient line of sentients waiting to be allowed through, "I'm sorry, folks. We have had a slight malfunction and I need to reset the system. It will take about five minutes. Please be patient"

Luke waited, though not patiently. There was something nibbling at the edges of his subconscious, like something was wrong. Was this the Force warning him?

But he had to get through and join the others! And if he suddenly left, he'd look suspicious. The stormtroopers had thus far been gruff but not antagonistic, and he hoped to keep it that way. No, the best thing to do was to stand here looking bored.

The minutes passed slowly, and through the chamber Luke could see Han and Leia also standing looking ostentatiously bored, but somehow he could feel their tension as well.

Finally the tech nodded and the door opened. Luke stepped in.

/-

 _The Bridge_

 _The Executor_

The technician spoke timidly now, "Lord Vader, we have another positive identification."

Vader turned and stalked over to the holo, "Which bay?"

An officer spoke now, nervously, "The same one as before, my Lord. Landing Bay #9 on Liana."

Vader ground his damaged teeth for a moment before stopping. That hurt. This operation was dissolving into chaos!

"On holo," he snarled.

The screen lit up a moment later and Vader took a breath out of sync of his respirator.

Even with his hair dyed brown and cut short, a meager mustache in place, and dressed in typical Von-Alai clothing, there was no mistaking the image of his son.

"That is Skywalker," the Sith snarled. "Lock down the chamber and move in!"

/-

 _Landing Bay #9_

Luke looked wild eyed at the technician outside the analysis chamber. Once again, the system had apparently malfunctioned but this time the tech had stiffened, then stabbed his instrument array rapidly.

The ephemeral Force flared a clear warning and Luke quickly snatched his lightsaber, lit it, and swung it rapidly toward the door beyond which his friends were waiting.

Then he bit back a cry of surprise as the saber struck a force field which had flashed into existence within the last second.

He was trapped.

/

 _The Executor_

Vader watched anxiously as he watched his son slash his old blue lightsaber– no, _Anakin Skywalker's_ lightsaber – on the force field imprisoning him in the analysis chamber. It should hold, it must hold – Vader had designed it himself. But until he had his son safely in custody, unharmed, he would be anxious. He had been separated from his boy for more than 20 years now, and knew from experience that where Luke was involved, what could go wrong generally would go wrong.

/-

 _Landing Bay #9_

"Leia, hold off the stormtroopers," Han yelled, even as he leaped forward toward the technician operating the analysis chamber controls. The man turned in astonishment as Han crashed a blaster butt over his head.

There was a shout from an officer as a squad of officers poured out from a side door within the landing bay area. Leia turned and began blasting them even as she rolled to one side to avoid the stun blasts that began emanating from the numerous opponents.

An instant later, Chewie appeared out of nowhere, howling, and threw a smoke bomb between Leia and the squad. Leia fired blindly through the ensuring smoke toward the troopers, who fired back.

Solo ignored the commotion, tapped in a pass code and slapped the hand of the unconscious tech on the appropriate pad.

The door to the analysis chamber opened and Luke dashed out.

"Let's get out of here!" Han yelled.

A minute later, they had all scrambled on board the _Millennium Falcon_ and raised the exit ramp even as a horde of enthusiastic stormtroopers raced toward the ship.

"Everyone get strapped down," Solo snapped quickly, "This is going to be a bumpy ride!"

Chewie howled and Han nodded, "Yep, she's ready to go. Great job, pal."

"What was _that_?" Luke gasped as he sought to catch his breath even as the _Falcon_ lifted off

"A trap, obviously," Leia replied, "and apparently my disguise convinced them and yours did not."

The youth ran a hand through his dyed locks and shrugged a little, "It wasn't meant to be great ..."

"Forget it, Kid," Solo interrupted as the _Falcon_ broke into the clouds above the Liana and soared into space. "We've got more serious problems."

/-

 _The Executor_

"I want them alive, Admiral Ozzel. Alive!" Vader hissed as he stared out the front viewscreen of the Super Star Destroyer.

"As you wish, my Lord," Ozzel replied importantly. "Lieutenant, order the TIE squadrons to focus on the engines so that the Rebel ship can be taken by this ship's tractor beam. Order _Devastator_ to provide cover fire to prevent the ship from reaching hyperspace distance from the planet."

"Yes, sir."

/-

 _In space_

"No, no, no!" Han yelped. "Four Star Destroyers plus _Executor_? This is crazy!"

"How long until we can make the jump to lightspeed?" Luke asked anxiously, echoing Kenobi's words when they had escaped Tatooine. It seemed so long ago now.

"Too long, because Von-Alai has a vicious gravity well ..." Han began, then frowned. "Luke, Leia, I've got an idea. Hang on!"

/-

 _The Executor_

"He's mad!" Ozzel said aloud, "He's diving back into the atmosphere of Von-Alai, into the storm zones! His instruments won't work! He'll crash!"

Vader's hands clenched, "See to it that he does not, Admiral. I want that ship!"

 _/-_

 _In the atmosphere of Von-Alai_

"Well, this is fun," Leia said, her voice shaking in sync with reverberations of the ship.

"Atmosphere's a mess, Princess," Solo chortled, flying essentially blind, "so the Imps can't see us!"

"And we can't see the ground, or other ships, or anything!" Luke yelped. He had long been accused of being a reckless flyer, but Han was his own brand of insane.

"Just hold on for the ride, Kid! We'll be out of this in a few minutes."

/-

 _The Bridge_

 _The Executor_

 _A few minutes later_

"We've located the Rebel ship, sir!" a random lieutenant yelled suddenly.

"Where? Where is she?" Ozzel snarled.

"Longitude 23, Latitude 35 degrees north, sir!"

"Order the _Devastator_ to intercept."

There was a dreadful pause.

"But Admiral, sir, you ordered the _Devastator_ to the equator to cut off the Rebel escape."

/

"Yes!" Han chortled as the stars dissolved into the whorl of hyperspace.

/

 _The Bridge_

 _The Executor_

"My Lord, my heartfelt apologies for the escape ..."

Ozzel's speech died even as the man's hand moved to his throat. The men on the bridge stared in horrified fascination as the man fought for breath, for life, before collapsing to the floor, dead.

"Apology accepted, Admiral Ozzel," the Dark Lord intoned furiously, and swept off toward his chamber.

Luke – his _son_ – had evaded him again.

 _Author Note: So I know some things are confusing here. Most will be cleared up in the next chapter! Thanks to my husband for editing for me!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Main Cabin_

 _The Millenium Falcon_

 _In hyperspace_

Luke Skywalker sat slumped on the most comfortable seat in the cabin. He was exhausted! First a few incredibly boring days of standing around looking decorative while Leia negotiated, then a few moments of heart stopping terror while trapped in that stupid analysis machine. Now that they were safely in hyperspace, he just wanted to sleep.

He looked up at Leia as she entered the room and smiled. She had washed the purple out of her hair, removed the make-up, and was wearing a tan pantsuit.

For a moment, a familiar yet uncomfortable emotion stirred in his heart. She was so beautiful and smart and amazing. Not that he likely had any chance at all – a farmboy from Tatooine? But still, that didn't mean he didn't think about ... about ... a romance. Ok, he thought about it more than sometimes. But he didn't want her to be uncomfortable, and he wasn't nearly good enough for her, because he was a farmboy and she was a princess, so ...

"You look better," he said, forcing his tone to be light.

"Yeah, but that disguise probably saved our lives, or at least our liberty," she shot back.

Luke nodded, "No argument there. I guess I should probably get cleaned up too soon."

She looked at him with a slight frown, then chuckled, "You do look weird. Dark, short hair looks strange on you, and that mustache looks like a caterpillar just waiting to crawl off onto a leaf."

He laughed self-consciously even as he peeled off the mustache and threw it in the trash nearby. Facial hair wasn't his best look.

"So what _happened?_ " he asked cautiously.

The princess frowned, clearly uneasy, "I don't know. Do you think ... do you think you and I are sick with Blue Shadow? The analysis system flagged us both. We have to consider that, Luke, before we go back to the Fleet."

Luke shook his head, "I don't think so. I feel fine and we weren't anywhere near the danger zone on Von-Alai. But you're right, of course ..."

"I am sure you guys are healthy," Han said firmly, stepping into the cabin. "But I know a little moon in the middle of basically nowhere. We'll stop and orbit for a few days just to make sure we're all safe to be around. I think the whole thing with the quarantine was an Imperial set-up from the start. The whole thing."

Leia sat up suddenly, "You mean ... the quarantine was fake? There never was any Blue Shadow?"

Han nodded, "Exactly."

Luke frowned, "That seems like an awful lot of trouble just to find us."

"Not for Vader, not for _you,_ " Leia said solemnly. "You know he seems obsessed with finding you, and capturing you alive. That bounty on your head is the biggest the galaxy has ever seen! Did you notice how all those troopers were firing stun shots?"

"I didn't," Luke said wryly. "I was more focused on being trapped in that chamber."

"Why didn't your lightsaber work, Luke?" Han asked carefully.

The youth shrugged, "I don't know. Force field. I didn't know that would stop a lightsaber but obviously it did."

He looked puzzled, "How did you get me out, Han?"

Solo shrugged nonchalantly, "When Leia was held too long, I drifted over and watched the technician carefully. He was fool enough to enter in his personal code to open the chamber and I saw it, plus he used a palm print."

"Thank you," Luke said quietly.

Leia spoke carefully, "The analysis chamber puzzles me, I admit it. The chamber must have cost a lot to manufacture, and they couldn't have been made in a day. If they thought we were there on the planet, it seems an odd way to go about catching us. After all, there are plenty of landing bays on Von-Alai. If they knew exactly where we were, why not just descend in massive force as is the typical brutish Imperial way?"

Solo shook his head, "Von-Alai is actually the perfect place for such a set-up, Leia. There are only three cities with landing bays and Liana has the largest. So if the Imps knew we were on Von-Alai, but not exactly where, they could set up those analysis chambers knowing we'd have to go through them to reach our ship. As you know, we took our lives in our hands by flying out of the equatorial zone ..."

"Now you tell me ..." Leia muttered.

The man grinned cockily, then his face grew solemn, "I have to admit it was risky. But we never would have gotten past that blockade."

"I know," Leia said. "And Han, it was the right call. Thank you."

Luke was deep in in thought, "The force field in the chamber was a big surprise to me. I mean, was it specifically to keep a lightsaber wielder from breaking out? Was that it? It just seems so elaborate. Why not just have ... I don't know ... coms on all the entrances for facial recognition? As it was, we were on our guard to some degree because we knew about the chambers. The whole thing is just weird."

"Facial recognition is actually very limited," Han commented, "especially as disguises can be much more thorough than what we managed. But still, I agree, weird. I'm just glad we got out of there."

Luke nodded firmly, "Yep, just another _very_ close call. No harm done."

/-

 _Medical Bay #5_

 _The Executor_

 _In orbit around Von-Alai_

 _10 hours later_

Doctor Lenz Sert sat huddled over the holoterminal, his forehead furrowed in worry.

He knew, everyone knew, that Lord Vader was a tempest of cold fury. Many had died on board, starting with the entire team which had designed the analysis program used on Von-Alai.

All but Sert. By a stroke of fortune, Sert's immediate superior was (had been) a proud, selfish brute and had taken the entire credit for Sert's substantial contribution to the analysis program. Sert had therefore been spared Vader's wrath. At least so far.

But now ... the doctor swept a hand across his face and sighed. He had studied the data and the conclusions were inescapable. But with the Dark Lord on a rampage, it was ridiculous to even consider sticking his neck out and drawing the cyborg's attention. On the other hand, he had entered the medical field to save lives. He could save lives now. Possibly.

He took a breath, then another breath, then (before he could think better of it) sent a quick holomessage.

The response was surprisingly rapid. Within 10 minutes, the door to the medical bay opened, and the newly promoted Admiral Piett entered.

Sert rose to his feet and saluted.

"Doctor Sert?"

The admiral looked exhausted, as well he might. But at least he was still breathing.

"Yes, sir."

"You said you had additional information about the failure to capture Skywaler on Von-Alai?"

"Yes, sir," Sert began hesitantly, then straightened his shoulders. He might just as well get this over with.

"Do you understand the medical aspect of the mission, Admiral?"

Piett gave a half shrug, "I think so, Doctor. I understand that each analysis chamber was designed to test every human individual for a genetic match to a Jedi of the Old Republic, namely Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker's presumed father."

Sert nodded, "That's correct, sir. The program was able to discard 99.99% of individuals instantly, which enabled a rapid analysis and throughput of individuals into the landing bays. All this was, of course, hidden underneath a false quarantine for Blue Shadow virus, to avoid suspicion."

"But," Piett stated, "the woman preceding Skywalker, now positively identified as Princess Leia Organa, was falsely identified, which ultimately resulted in the failure of the mission."

Sert said nothing, but merely turned the holoterminal toward his superior.  
Piett looked puzzled, then interested, then stunned.

Then frightened.

Then resigned.

"I need to tell Lord Vader this, immediately, Doctor. Thank you."

Doctor Sert nodded, "I would be honored to accompany you, sir."

A pause.

"Very well, come."

/-

 _Darth Vader's office, attached to his private quarters_

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, stood staring with a mixture of rage and self-reproach at the image of the woman who had entered the analysis chamber before his son.

It had been a bitter moment, six hours ago, when Leia Organa's identity had been uncovered. Vader should have recognized her even through the elaborate disguise, but he had been focused on finding Luke ...

There was a sudden, and unexpected, chime. Unexpected because everyone knew he was in a towering rage so sensible people were steering as far clear of him as possible.

A brief reach with the Force revealed two individuals waiting outside, one Admiral Piett, the other an unknown human male.

With a brief wave of an irritable finger, the door opened.

He turned, his figure stiff, his demeanor at its most menacing.

Piett stepped forward boldly and saluted, "My lord, this is Doctor Sert, who has provided me with vital information."

"Speak," he said coldly.

"The analysis program did not fail. The system flagged Leia Organa because the princess of Alderaan is Luke Skywalker's sister, probably his fraternal twin."

There was frozen moment.

"That is ... that is ... impossible," the Dark Lord returned. The vocoder tended to flatten his inflections, but a dim part of his brain realized he sounded positively shaken.

Sert shook his head briskly, "My Lord, if you will observe the data on ..."

The holopad was ripped from the doctor's hand and Vader found himself staring at it with stunned incredulity

The doctor continued carefully, "You provided the medical team with the genetic information of Luke Skywalker's father, and the analysis program scanned each individual's code for a genetic match. When Leia Organa entered the analysis chamber, the system noted a match. I've spent the last several hours studying her genetic data. Not only is she Skywalker's sister, she is his full blood sister. Her genetic code includes the genetics of Anakin Skywalker, but when I match the unknown code, so to speak, it agrees as well. So they share the same mother as well. Based on bone scan, I would go so far as to aver that Organa and Skywalker are fraternal twins; if not, they are no more than 18 months apart."

There was a pause.

And a longer pause.

Which stretched into a full fledged lengthy moment.

Darth Vader stood in total, stunned, shocked, amazed, horrified, delighted silence.

"You are positive," he boomed suddenly, causing his men to start.

"I am 100% confident, my Lord," Sert stated. "Though I welcome a second analysis of the data."

"If Skywalker and Organa are siblings," Piett stated, "that changes a good deal. They ..."

The man frowned now as he tried to twist this information into something that made sense.

"Organa is ... she must have been ..."

"Adopted. Yes, she was," Sert said quietly. "I read that in her public record."

Vader awoke from his stupor, "You have done well, Doctor, Admiral. Does anyone else know of this information?"

Both men shook their heads carefully.

For a moment, native caution warred with a very unusual sense of gratitude. The sensible thing would be to kill them both, to assure that this information could not escape this room. But ...

"You will tell no one, no one at all. Is that clear?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Go."

With grateful salutes, the two men left, leaving Darth Vader standing in silence.

A daughter. He had a daughter.

And not just any daughter – not a shadowy infant daughter who had, he thought, died in his mother's womb.

He had believed that for 19 years, believed that Padme's child was a girl. Then it appeared that no, she had been right, the child was a boy. Luke Skywalker.

But they had both been right.

Padme had carried not one child but two. Two amazing, strong, incredible children, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.

And now bile rose in the Dark Lord's scarred throat. Leia Organa of Alderaan, who had endured hours of torture at his hands in the Death Star. He had harmed his angel's daughter.

He closed his eyes in anguish and self-reproach. How had he missed this? He had been in the same cell ...

No, best not to think about those horrible hours now. He had to be calm, sensible, wise. Because now he had not one child to find, protect, teach, use ...

( _Love_ , an aberrant voice whispered in his head.)

He firmly thrust it into the background. Sith Lords did not love. No, the children were his responsibility. Furthermore, they were an opportunity to destroy Sidious. Nothing more.

( _Nothing more? Really?)_

Darth Vader focused on his breathing.

Then he stepped forward quickly, sat down in his appropriately huge chair in front of his personal com, and began scrolling through images of his son.

He had been collecting them for more than a year now, when the bounty hunter had brought him the news that the pilot who had destroyed the Death Star was named Luke Skywalker and had lived on Tatooine with moisture farmers named Owen and Beru Lars and his son was alive.

Alive.

There were several images of Leia Organa (his daughter!) as well, though previously he had focused on Luke.

Ah, here, from Ord Mantell, shortly before an encounter with a bounty hunter had gone awry.

That had been another close call, as the hunter, while in pursuit of Solo, had recognized Skywalker as well. But again, as was typical, Luke had somehow slipped out of his grasp.

He looked intently at the holo, of his _twin children_ and the smuggler Solo, caught in a public holocam at a table outside some seedy restaurant.

Leia Organa, _his daughter_ , eyeballed the smuggler, her eyes blazing. Spies said their relationship was fractious.

He stared at her intensely. Hungrily.

He had tortured her for hours. He had stood with his prosthetic fingers holding her back as her planet was destroyed. Most young, pampered women – for that matter, most battle hardened veterans – would have been destroyed by such an experience.

But no (and here, his body relaxed involuntarily) it was clear that Leia Organa of Alderaan had not been destroyed. She looked as vibrant, strong, firm, and emotionally powerful as she had on the _Tantive IV_ so long ago.

As was to be expected from Padme's daughter.

He leaned back with a slight sigh as his gaze drifted to his son Luke, who was gazing at Leia.

And Darth Vader froze.

He knew that look.

He knew it.

He had ... he had looked at Padme the same way.

But surely ...

Here his brain stumbled over itself until his inner voice made itself known.

( _They don't know they are related, of course. You can't blame your son for finding your daughter incredibly attractive.)_

Bile rose again, along with understanding.

That fool Kenobi. He had taken the twins, separated them, hidden them, kept them in the dark! Not just about him, about their biological father (he could grudgingly understand that, given Kenobi's opinion of him) but about their sibling relationship as well.

This ... this could be a catastrophe. There was no word yet from his spies that Organa and Skywalker were romantically involved but she was royalty and he was a boy from Tatooine and it had all happened a generation before. Except that this time, the princess and the farmboy were siblings!

He had to do something!


	3. Chapter 3

_Darth Vader's private quarters_

 _The Executor_

 _In orbit around Von-Alai_

Darth Vader was pacing

"I should have killed Obi-Wan very, very slowly," he thought in outrage. "He stole my children, exiled my son to that vile dustball, separated them ..."

His fury spiked, and he suddenly felt the urge to take it out on something. No officers were around, so ...

With an angry mutter of Huttese, he lifted up his chair with the Force and hurled it against the wall. The chair shattered and the wall dented.

That felt good.

" _That was mature,"_ came the Voice in his mind.

"Silence!" he roared back, also in his mind.

 _"I will not be quiet, Darth Vader."_

The inner voice was positively snarky now, " _You've kept me quiet for 20 years but now you are worried about the children so sorry about your luck, but I'm talking."_

"Anakin is dead."

He felt the inward sigh.

" _You don't have to call me Anakin if you can't handle it. If you like, you can call me your conscience. We haven't talked in a while."_

The Dark Lord gnashed his teeth. Great. The last thing he needed was the quiet background Voice getting pushy and bossy.

(The Voice had admittedly been around quite a bit right after his Fall, then had grown more quiet through the last 20 years ...)

" _Seriously, you need me. I will admit you are quite intelligent but you let your temper get the best of you all too often. And we have a combined goal. We want the twins safe."_

 _"_ I do not need you to keep the twins safe. _"_

 _"Ok, so what's the plan?"_ the Voice inquired patiently.

Vader sat still for a long moment, then slumped slightly.

"The twins ... they don't know they are related."

" _I know, I pointed that out a few minutes ago."_

"So ... so we need to break up any potential romantic relationship between them. There must be someone in the Alliance who is worthy of my daughter and yet isn't my son. Perhaps ... perhaps we can push Leia and this Unknown together, cutting Luke out in the process. Or perhaps we can send in a female spy or three or ten and have them try to strike up a romantic relationship with my son. He's an attractive boy."

" _That seems needlessly complicated. Wouldn't it be far simpler to just tell them the truth?"_

"Don't be a fool!"

(It occurred to him that he was yelling at himself, since this Voice was in his own head.)

"If we tell them the truth, it could get back to Sidious. It _will_ get back to him! We must keep Leia safe! Sidious knows about Luke since those idiots in Alliance High Command made him their holoposter boy after the destruction of the Death Star ..."

" _Quite a nice shot, wasn't that? He clearly got his piloting prowess from me_."

"From me, you mean," Vader snapped angrily aloud, then stopped. Now he was talking _out loud_ to himself. Wonderful.

" _In any case, Sidious is a danger to the twins even if he doesn't know that Leia is your daughter. She's a noted Rebel and is in danger of capture and public execution at any time. The obvious thing is to kill him, don't you think? Then you can tell the twins about their relationship somehow and all will be well."_

Vader counted five weary breaths of his respirator before bothering to reply.

"Kill Sidious. You are perhaps suggesting it is a trivial matter to kill my master?"

" _Well, maybe not trivial. But you can do it. You and I have the highest midichlorian count ever measured. Higher than that rancid old man."_

"And I'm in a life support suit thanks to Kenobi, who hewed off my limbs and left me to burn ..."

" _Oh, stop with the pity part, Vader! What were_ you _doing on Mustafar? You attacked your wife who was pregnant with your twins! Can you blame Kenobi for reacting strongly after you harmed Padme ...?_ "

"Do not say her name!" Vader shouted, causing a slight echo in the room.

And ... he was talking to himself again.

" _Oh, quite touchy about her, I see. Well, let me point something out which may not have occurred to you. Obviously the twins were born healthy, so Padme lived to deliver them, which means Palpatine lied about her death at your hands_."

This was so monumental a thought that the Sith stood stock still for a full five minutes.

"You are correct," he finally murmured softly. "I could not ... I could not have killed my angel. He lied. He lied to me!"

" _Of course he did. He's a conniving, evil man. I don't know why you insist on protecting and serving him."_

"He is my master," Vader responded, rather feebly, he knew.

The resulting silence was eloquent.

"I want to kill him," the Sith Lord finally said, "but I cannot. He is too powerful in the Force, and he is wise. If I did choose to attack him, he would sense it beforehand."

The Voice considered for a long moment, then spoke thoughtfully, _"Tell you what. You just continue business as usual, and I'll think up a good assassination plan. When I figure it out, I'll get back to you."_

Vader actually shook his head physically, "So you, a weird alter personality of me, will figure out how to kill the Emperor without me knowing. How does that work?"

" _Don't worry your pretty little head about it, Sith Lord. I'll figure it out."_

"It won't work," Vader responded wearily.

But the Voice did not respond.

/-

 _Hanger Bay #3_

 _Rebel Ship_ Liberty

 _In orbit around Hoth_

 _8 days later_

Luke climbed down the ladder onto the hanger bay floor and took off his helmet with a sigh.

There was a tootling beep from above and he called up, "Please shut her down completely, R2. I won't be going out again today."

"Hey, Kid!"

The youth turned and smiled at Han Solo, who was working on one of the Falcon's engines.

"How was your mission?" the Corellian asked as Luke trotted closer.

"It was fine. No quarantines, no close escapes. I'd like to say business as usual, but actually that's rather unusual."

"No argument from me, Kid. And Chewie and I weren't even around to take care of you. Hi Princess!"

Luke swung around to see Leia approaching, a welcoming smile on her beautiful face.

And again his heart lurched suddenly within him. She was so radiant ...

"I'm glad your mission went well, Luke," she said, then looked up at Solo, crinkling her brow and flashing a crooked smile, "and I see your ship is falling apart again."

"Thanks to that disaster you call a Rebel base, Princess," the Corellian riposted. "It's so cold the icicles have frostbite. I think you're crazy to settle there, but so long as you keep paying me I'll keep shuttling supplies there, or at least as long as I don't lose any toes."

"We'll be careful to protect your toes, Captain," Leia responded frostily. "And if you have a moment, perhaps I could talk to you and Luke?"

Solo shot an irritable look at the exposed wiring and hopped down using a ladder, "Let's go into the _Falcon_."

Once inside, Leia got right to business, "So, Luke, did you hear the Von-Alai quarantine was definitely an Imperial trap? I wasn't sure if you heard details before you took off on your last mission."

Luke was pacing to stretch his legs after his many hours in spaceflight, but he paused at this, "I didn't hear for sure. That's good, I guess – I mean that people weren't really dying of Blue Shadow virus. But wow, the whole thing just seems really elaborate."

"Yes," Leia agreed, even as her usually smooth brow furrowed slightly. "Something odd has come up, though. The bounty on my head just tripled, and it's alive only now."

This caused both Solo and Skywalker to freeze in astonishment.

"Triple?" Solo demanded.

"Alive only?" Luke asked.

She nodded and shrugged helplessly, "I don't get it. I'm nearly up to Luke's bounty and any bounty hunter who gets his hands on me will get major, major credits. That's assuming I don't claw their eyes out before I'm delivered to the Empire, anyway."

"You and the Kid both better watch your backs ...," Han said gravely.

Chewbacca, who had wandered in time for the conversation, now roared.

Han nodded at his co-pilot's words, "Chewie and I will help watch your backs, I mean. Even more than we have been."

Luke felt a stir in his heart that something deeper was going on, something serious.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

/-

 _Imperial Art Museum_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _2 weeks later_

 _The 22nd Empire Day_

The aged and creaking Emperor Palpatine exited his shuttle onto the roof of the Imperial Art Museum.

At his feet knelt the imposing form of Lord Darth Vader plus a few random boot lickers.

Vader still brought a thrill into Darth Sidious's cold, black heart. To have enslaved the former Anakin Skywalker was indeed a great accomplishment, and to have kept the man enslaved for more than 20 years was beyond the reach of most mortals.

But he was not, of course, a normal mortal. Indeed, if he succeeded in solving the problem of Death, he might not be mortal at all.

Darth Sidious, the first of the Immortals.

It had a nice ring to it.

"Rise, my friend," Palpatine rasped as he reached the junior Sith, who obediently rose to his feet.

"It is regrettable that you have not yet captured the Rebel who destroyed my Death Star, Lord Vader," he intoned coldly.

There was a pause, and then the other responded, "The time will come, my Master. He cannot evade our forces forever."

"If he is not captured soon, my servant, I will be most displeased."

"Yes, my master."

They both knew what Palpatine meant. He was quite capable of bringing Vader to his literal cyborg knees using Force Lightning.

Enough threatening and onto other enjoyable things. Sidious turned to where Imperial Museum Director Klank was waiting nervously near an open elevator.

"Your Highness," the Director squeaked with a mixture of excitement and fear, "it is truly our honor to have you here for the grand opening of the Emperor Palpatine Exhibit."

"I am most pleased to be here."

And he was. What could be better than the entire top floor of the museum dedicated to himself, to his power and glory and might?

Darth Vader walked slowly behind his lord and master into the elevator, and waited gloomily as it lowered one floor.

If there was anything he hated, it was standing around looking decorative while Palpatine gloated over his own awesomeness.

" _At least I didn't have to do this kind of stupid thing during the Clone Wars,"_ Anakin commented suddenly.

(Vader had decided the Voice could safely be called Anakin. 'Conscience' didn't exactly trip off the mental tongue. And his speech patterns were certainly typical of the weak, pathetic boy who had been entirely burned away in the fires of Mustafar.)

" _More than that was burned away, old man_ ," Anakin commented snidely. " _You're a wreck under that armor. I'd rather be me."_

Vader didn't even bother arguing with his obviously confused other self. Because his other self was either dead, or part of Vader. Anakin was not a separate entity.

Was he?

Ahead of Vader, the Emperor was still conversing with the Museum Director, who has eagerly describing the myriad exhibits on this floor, all depicting the glories of Palpatine's rise to power.

" _Lies, most of it,"_ Anakin said, more morosely now.

Vader couldn't argue with that.

Wearily, he walked behind his master, who was moving even more slowly than usual, tapping his stick in his usual falsely decrepit way. Palpatine could easily destroy an entire army, but he preferred to appear benign and indeed weak.

There was nothing weak about Palpatine.

As they proceeded through the rooms, Director Klank waxed eloquent about the murals, paintings, cubes, spheres, and glass objects, all of which apparently told the glorious story of Emperor Palpatine's rise to power.

A dead bore, all of it.

" _In that, we are in full agreement,"_ Anakin stated.

"And here," the Museum Director gushes, his voice rising with enthusiasm, "is the true highlight of the entire exhibition."

The Emperor had been guided into a medium sized room, where a tall pedestal stood with something under a dark blue cloth.

With a twitch of horror, Vader realized that this was some kind of ceremony. There were several eager artistic types standing against a wall, and a holocam and two enthusiastic Imperial Holonet hosts chattering eagerly to the masses. Apparently this whole affair was being broadcasted _live_.

The hosts were Cray Shifton and Relinka Spetzv, to be exact. He knew of both them, vaguely. Spetzv was famous for her hair color changes. Today hers was bright purple.

What a nightmare of irritation this all was.

"My Emperor," Klank continued, shaking slightly with enthusiasm, "it is my honor to present to you the Floringan statue."

A black clad attendant reached forward to pull away the cloth, revealing a statue of Palpatine made out of the largest Kallistan gem Vader had ever seen, or even imagined. It was, he admitted to himself, quite impressive – Kallistan gemstone glowed a slightly different color depending on the angle of the observer, and even through the red tint of Vader's mask, the Sith could tell this was truly a thing a beauty, even if its subject was thoroughly ugly.

A meter in height, the statue depicted an Emperor Palpatine standing, robed, with his walking stick in this hand. As far as Vader could tell, it was extremely true to the man himself, except far more lovely.

Palpatine stared at it for a long moment, as everyone waited with bated breath.

"It is ... very well done, Sculptor Floringan," he stated graciously to a thin, eager man standing to one side.

The man in question fell to his knees.

"It has truly been the honor of my life to sculpt it, my Master," he gushed.

Palpatine smiled, showing his yellow teeth, then looked up at the statue again. The pedestal was high enough that of all the individuals in the room, only Vader, from his great height, could look at the statue directly.

"I wish to see it more closely. Lord Vader, lift it down so I may observe it," Sidious ordered.

There was a horrified squeak from the sculptor, "Your Highness, it is very, very heavy!"

"Lord Vader is a powerful Force sensitive," Sidious stated with a glint of amusement in his yellow eyes. It pleased Palpatine to pretend that he was not a powerful Sith Lord quite capable of lifting an AT-AT if he so desired.

Vader swallowed a sigh and reached out a gloved hand. The statue floated off the pedestal toward the Emperor, to the accompaniment of gasps of amazement from the bystanders.

"Yes, it is indeed well sculpted," Sidious said, then continued, "A little closer, Lord Vader."

Of course Palpatine had to order him around like a slave. Because realistically, he was one.

" _I'll take that,"_ Anakin suddenly commented.

Before Vader's stunned eyes, the statue suddenly hurtled forward with tremendous force to smash into Darth Sidious's skull. The man toppled over like a short, elderly tree, and two seconds later, Darth Vader's heavy prosthetic foot stamped down on the Emperor's head.

There was the horrifying sound of skull shattering and brains leaking out and Darth Sidious, Emperor of the galaxy, was suddenly very dead.

Relinka Spetzv allowed four seconds of horrified silence before beginning to shriek at the top of her very healthy lungs. From the next room, Royal Guards came rushing toward them.

Vader was so stunned by his own actions (Anakin's actions?) that it took a few seconds for him to close the door using the Force.

Not that that would hold the Guards for long.

"What was _that_?" he demanded silently of Anakin.

" _Hey, I decided improvisation was the best plan. Wait for an opportunity, and take it. The old bat is dead now, anyway."_

"And I will likely die too. The Guards are well trained and armed."

" _That's your problem, Sith Lord. Just make sure you tell Luke and Leia about their relationship before you kick the bucket."_

This, at least, was good advice.

He turned to Cray Shifton and Relinka Spetzv; the latter was still howling.

"Silence," he thundered.

She quieted immediately, her eyes wide with terror.

"Are you still broadcasting live?" he demanded harshly.

Spetzv was too terrified to move, but Shifton nodded, his eyes so wide they looked as if they'd pop out of his head at any moment.

"Good. This message is for Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. You are fraternal twins."

The door, which had been smoking and shaking as the Imperial Guards fought to open it, suddenly blew apart.

Darth Vader, formerly Anakin Skywalker, lit his saber and strode toward the guards, prepared to do battle.

/-

 _Random Office_

 _The Rebel ship Freedom_

 _In orbit around Hoth_

Technician Quant had been prepared for a thoroughly boring shift watching the opening of the Emperor Palpatine Exhibit at the Imperial Art Museum on the live Holonet.

"Someone!" he yelled out the door, "Anyone! Uh, crazy things are happening on Imperial Center. I think the Emperor is dead!"

 _Author Note: So Vader's mental processes are a bit odd in this chapter. Obviously. Also, a few people mentioned frodogenic's wonderful fic_ Sibling Revelry _, which has a somewhat similar plot. I went in a different direction but anyone who hasn't read that story should, because it is hilarious._


	4. Chapter 4

_Luke Skywalker's bunk_

 _Rebel Ship_ Freedom

 _In orbit around Hoth_

"Luke, wake up, wake up!"

Luke jerked in surprise and fell out of his narrow bed, thrashed loose from his blankets, and looked up in bewilderment, "Wedge? What's going on?"

"Everything is going on, Boss," Antilles responded, hauling his superior officer to his feet and brushing the wrinkles out of his clothes a bit. "Get your boots on and come to Conference Room #1. Now."

Luke obediently pulled his boots on and was out the door in 15 seconds, "Wedge, seriously ...?"

"No, you just come. On orders of General Rieekan."

Conference Room #1 was the largest of its kind on the _Freedom_ , and it was full of excitable, chattering Rebels. Leia and Han were standing to one side of the door. Luke hurried over to them, his face alight with curiosity.

"We've received word that Vader killed Palpatine about an hour ago," Leia said immediately.

"What?!" Luke squeaked in shock.

"Yes, on the live Holonet, apparently."

"Everyone, attention!" General Rieekan called out, causing everyone in the room to grow quiet.

"Run the holo," he ordered.

Everyone watched with interest followed by shock followed by bewilderment as Darth Vader smashed Palpatine in the head with a statue, stamped his skull into smithereens, and then made the weird announcement about Luke and Leia. The holo ended with crashes and red lightsaber flashes before the image went dead.

Luke cringed a little _. Everyone_ was looking at the two of them now.

"Eyes up here," Major Bren Derlin ordered. He had moved into position next to the holoscreen and Luke relaxed. Derlin was a security officer and a reasonably good guy. He'd know what to do next.

"First of all, it is obvious that Vader's statement about Organa and Skywalker was some kind of code phrase," Derlin stated firmly, "no doubt a message to his fellow conspirators in this coup."

"A code phrase?" Antilles demanded. "That doesn't make sense. Why would he say _that_ as a code phrase!"

Derlin shrugged, "Who knows? It's not the sort of thing he would say in natural speech, and it was no doubt meant to confuse the Alliance while simultaneously signaling his allies to do ... something. We know Organa and Skywalker are not twins, so the words themselves are not important – the unknown message is."

The Major began pacing now, his face intent, "What is Vader up to? All of our intel indicated that Vader was completely loyal to Palpatine, so this sudden attack – sudden from our perspective – has taken us by surprise."

"Is there any news on what happened after the holo ended?" Rieekan demanded.

Darlin shook his head, his brow furrowed, "It's only been an hour, General. We've got spies on Imperial Center but any information is garbled in the extreme. Based on our analysis of the end of the holo, the Emperor's Red Guards attacked Vader ..."

"If we're lucky, they killed him," Wedge piped up.

"Unlikely, I would say," Rieekan said gravely. "Indeed, I would caution us all that this holo may be a fake. Perhaps it was staged to trick us in some way ..."

Luke, who was too dazed to follow all of this carefully, felt a sharp tug of his left arm. He glanced down to see Leia, looking more alert than he felt, tilting her head toward the door to the corridor.

Obediently he followed her out, with Han Solo in tow. The excited discussion continued in the conference room, undiminished by their departure.

Once they were outside in the corridor, Luke and Leia stared at one another, and then the youth sighed.

"So your Life Day is right around today, correct?" he asked quietly.

She nodded, "Yours too, right?"

"Yep, 22 years."

"Me too."

"And you were adopted?"

Leia nodded.

There was another pause while they gazed at one another and then Luke shrugged, "It's the med bay for us, I guess."

They marched off rapidly with Solo at their heels, leaving the bickering Rebels behind.

Twenty minutes later, the three re-entered the Conference Room. Both Luke and Leia were pale, but the Rebels in attendance didn't notice.

On a large holoscreen, everyone watched as the distant but recognizable form of Darth Vader appeared on a roof, limping noticeably, climbed into a shuttle, and flew off.

He left an Art Museum which was smoking slightly.

Rieekan sighed when the holo ended and turned toward the assembled Rebels.

"It would seem Vader survived the assassination of Palpatine, but at least Palpatine is truly dead," he began, then focused in on Leia's pale face. "Princess, what is it?"

She blinked at him even as Luke stated in an only slightly wobbly voice, "We've figured out what Vader's message means."

Major Derlin stiffened in clear excitement, "You have? That's wonderful. What does it mean?"

Leia spoke clearly now, "It means Luke and I are fraternal twins."

There was frozen silence throughout the room.

"What?!" Rieekan sputtered at last.

"They are twins, General," Solo stated firmly. "We just got back from the med bay. 2-1B just confirmed it."

Derlin's mouth and face went completely slack before he managed to put words together.

"That's impossible! Skywalker, you're from ... from Tatooine. Princess Leia, you were the Royal Heir of Alderaan ..."

"I was adopted. We share the same birthday. We just did a DNA test. We are indeed twins," Leia shot back immediately.

"Look, we're totally blown away by this," Luke chimed in, "and it's going to take a while to process it. But for now, please realize Vader was just speaking the truth, though how he knew we are twins when we didn't know is beyond understanding. And why would he announce it on the live Holonet after killing the Emperor?"

"Maybe he's snapped?" Wedge asked hopefully.

Leia shook her head, grimly, "I almost hope not. I mean yes, a deranged Darth Vader might be able to take down more easily, but then again, a deranged Darth Vader might just go completely genocidal somewhere. This situation is fraught with confusion and potential land mines."

"But Palpatine is dead," a hitherto silent officer said suddenly. "We can at least rejoice about that."

/-

 _Darth Vader's private chambers_

 _The Executor_

 _In hyperspace_

 _1 hour later_

Darth Vader lowered himself with extreme difficulty onto his large seat and closed the hyperbaric chamber. His left leg was sparking and misfiring and generally misbehaving, but he pushed it into an appropriate position using the Force.

A moment later, droid hands removed his helmet and he took several deep breaths of super oxygenated air.

"I feel terrible," he thought.

" _Not a surprise_ ," Anakin commented. " _Those Royal Guards were tough. More than I expected."_

"I told you they were well trained," Vader returned irascibly. "I am somewhat startled that I survived that fight. If I do survive. I haven't felt this weak since ..."

" _Mustafar,_ " Anakin responded, sounding quite serious now. " _Well, I am guessing part of it is that you just killed Sidious and abruptly broke your Master-Apprentice bond. So physical and spiritual devastation. I think you'll be all right, Sith Lord, but I recommend a healing trance._ "

Vader sighed, "The Dark Side does not lend itself well to healing trances."

" _Yet another reason the Dark Side stinks. Try deep meditation then. Or if you can't manage that, just go to sleep! That Admiral of yours seems competent enough and you'll need a body that works moderately well if you are going to live to fight another day._ "

"I am better inclined to understand Kenobi's frustrations with you. You are reckless, bordering on insane, at times."

" _The twins are safer today because of me,"_ Anakin pointed out, " _and Palpatine is dead. I'd say it was a supremely successful day."_

Vader started to formulate a response, then decided against it. It seemed pointless to argue with his alter and he was so tired ...

He closed his eyes and fell into a deep, black, velvety sleep, one without dreams.

/-

 _The Millennium Falcon_

 _Hanger Bay #3_

 _The Freedom_

 _In orbit around Hoth_

"So we're just supposed to sit around talking while the galaxy dissolves into chaos?" Luke asked in frustration.

He was pacing back and forth in the _Falcon_ 's main cabin, his mind awhirl.

Leia, his twin sister, was sitting on a nearby chair, looking serious.

"Luke," she said gently, "you are literally the best pilot we have but right now we don't need a phenomenal pilot, we need answers. You and I are somehow a big part of all this insanity of Vader's. If we can figure at least some of what our twin relationship has to do with him, we'll be ahead of the game. Right now, Rieekan and the other members of Alliance Command feel totally confused."

"I'm guessing much of the galaxy feels totally confused," Han said, stepping into the room.

Luke nodded with reluctant understanding, but kept pacing.

On the one hand, finding out he had a twin sister was totally awesome. On the other hand, going from potential love interest to sibling was a huge, and not entirely comfortable, experience.

Just a day ago he had been thinking about ...

"You kissed me, you know!" he blurted out suddenly. "How weird is that?"

Leia expression morphed from thoughtful to bewildered, then outraged, "Kissed you? I did not!"

"On the Death Star you did," Luke responded doggedly, "when we were about to swing across that chasm."

Leia rose to her feet with an irritable groan, "I had just been rescued by a group of apparent incompetents and we were about to swing across a bottomless pit. I was just kissing you ... for luck. It didn't mean anything."

"So you'd have kissed me if I was a Hutt?" Luke demanded a trifle sulkily.

The princess's eyes rolled, "If you were a Hutt, the rope wouldn't have held us. So no. But I'd have kissed a Gamorrean, yes. I mean ..."

"Luke, Leia!" Han interrupted with a smirk on his cocky face. "This bickering is fun and all, but let's focus, shall we? We're supposed to be figuring out how Vader found out you are twins, and why he killed the Emperor."

The two subsided even as Luke's shoulders slumped, "Like we know? It's just so weird!"

Chewbacca, who had walked in after Solo, now spoke at some length.

Solo turned to look at his co-pilot with growing excitement, "Chewie, that's brilliant! You're absolutely right!"

He turned to the twins now, "It's all about Von-Alai, guys! Don't you remember, the analysis chamber apparently flagged Leia! And then it flagged you, Luke! That can't be a coincidence."

Leia's eyes widened, "You're absolutely right, Chewie. That has to be it. Vader ... Vader was trying to catch you with that chamber and somehow ... somehow he caught me too. Fortunately didn't actually catch us, but ... but he must have figured out our sibling relationship then. And ..."

Now she shook her head, "And decided to kill the Emperor and announce to the galaxy that we're twins? That's still just weird, even for him."

Luke was staring blankly at a wall, thinking furiously, "That makes sense! But how ... how did the chamber find us?"

Chewbacca roared some more.

"Midichlorians?" Han demanded, "Huh?"

More explanation in Shyrriwook, and Solo turned to Luke and Leia even while shaking his head.

"Chewie says that Jedi have high midichlorian levels in their blood or something. Whatever those are. Maybe the chamber checked for that?"

"It's not even clear I am a strong Force sensitive," Leia objected. "And even if I do have a bunch of those midi- whatevers, how would Vader determine we are siblings?"

"Maybe ... the analysis chamber did some kind of a DNA scan or something?" Luke speculated.

There was a long pause as everyone cogitated, before Leia spoke again, "There are still many questions, but I agree with Chewbacca that the Von-Alai mission was the key. Let's ... let's sleep on it, Ok?

/-

 _The Bridge_

 _The Executor_

 _In Orbit around Vjun_

"Admiral Piett?"

Piett turned to the technician who had hurried to his side.

"Yes?"

"Sir, we just observed an unauthorized transmission from this ship. It's encoded and does not use Imperial security protocols."

The Admiral stiffened. With Vader apparently out of commission, it was the admiral's responsibility to make sure the _Executor_ was safe from rebel spies or saboteurs.

"Have you located the source of the transmission?" he demanded.

"We're working on it, sir," another tech from one of the pits below the Admiral, his brow furrowed with concentration. A moment later, though, his face changed to one of embarrassed relief.

"It's a transmission from Lord Vader's chambers, sir," he said respectfully.

Piett relaxed and nodded, "Very good."

Internally, he was extremely relieved. Piett had been truly horrified at his superior's physical state when the Sith staggered off the shuttle onto the _Executor_ , and it had occurred to the Admiral that Vader might just expire quietly in hyperspace. Apparently the Dark Lord had recovered sufficiently to send mysterious messages. That was all to the good.

/

 _Darth Vader's hyperbaric chamber_

 _The Executor_

Darth Vader, the only Lord of the Sith, opened his eyes carefully.

A quick glance at the chrono indicated he had been asleep (unconscious?) for a full ten hours.

How many decades had it been since he'd slept that long? The last time had been when he and Padme had managed to spend a couple stolen nights together on Coruscant, when she was heavy with their twins ...

But no, he should not think of her.

He twitched his neck slightly to work out a kink and glanced around. As usual, the chamber was a boring monochromatic black and white, with the occasional red light flashing.

He felt surprisingly good. His breathing was as reasonable as it was likely to be given what a wreck his lungs were. His mind – well, there was a strange, empty place where the cold, furious fire of Darth Sidious used to dwell. It felt odd to have it gone, but odd in a good way.

" _I should say so,"_ Anakin commented. " _Having a vile and brutal Sith Lord master hanging out at the end of a tight Force bond is no fun at all."_

"Silence," Vader responded wearily, though without much hope. Anakin was growing more uppity by the day.

With a sigh, the Dark Lord replaced his helmet, opened the hyperbaric pod, and took a step out into his private chamber.

And then stopped. Because ... his left leg was working properly.

He stared at it, incredulously, then bounced just slightly. While he slept, it had been fixed. By whom?

" _By me, of course,"_ Anakin said firmly. " _You were out like a light so I grabbed your tool kit and got to work. The leg's still got some damaged wiring but ..."_

"You were operating on my body when I was unconscious?" Vader interrupted in outrage. "How dare you work on my leg apart from my own will?"

There was a long pause, even as the irony of his own words penetrated Vader's mind.

Anakin's voice was extremely sarcastic when it made itself known, " _Well, that's a great question, Sith Lord. Welcome to my life for the last 22 years. While you've been out there murdering and torturing Jedi and children and everyone in between, I've been stuck in here dealing with the emotional fallout."_

 _"_ You are not a separate entity," Vader argued, "you are part of me. If you don't like my actions, then ... then depart! Disappear!"

 _"I think I'll just interfere randomly when I can, which will be increasingly common now that you are concerned about the twins."_

"I am not 'concerned' as you put it. I merely wish to ... to ... er ... train them in the Dark Ways and ... um ..."

 _"Try to justify it if you like, Vader. It won't work. Luke and Leia remind you of your former life when Padme and I married and then conceived our precious children. Family matters to you and always has. You'll never be a cold, vicious, unfeeling Sith Lord where the children are concerned. I understand you better than you think."_

Darth Vader tried to think of an appropriately chilling response to this statement. But he couldn't. Because Anakin was right.

/-

 _Luke Skywalker's quarters_

 _The Freedom_

 _In orbit around Hoth_

A babble of beeping plus a minor electrical zap woke Luke up. He fell off his bed (again), rolled around, grabbed his blaster from under the bed, then paused before he could fire it.

Because his 'attacker' was his R2 unit.

"R2?" he hissed once he'd overcome his surprise enough to talk. "What are you doing? Go away! I'm exhausted!"

R2D2 was clearly not impressed. The unit continued beeping a kilometer a minute, so quickly that Luke couldn't possible understand a single beep. His binary was better than most, but this was impossibly fast. And he was so tired ...

"R2, please," he begged. "Can't it wait?"

Apparently the answer was no, because the astromech rolled forward again, his shock arm outstretched.

"Ok, Ok, Ok!"

Luke staggered to his feet and wandered over to a chair, even as he gestured for the droid to plug into a binary translator attached to a holoterminal.

He ran a hand over his face, trying to wake up, before focusing on the screen.

Two minutes later, he was very very very awake.

/-

 _Hanger Bay #3_

 _The Millennium Falcon_

 _Rebel Ship_ Freedom

 _1 hour later_

For the tenth time, Leia Organa read the message downloaded by R2D2.

 _"My dear Luke and Leia,_

 _I realize this message will likely be received with surprise, incredulity, and suspicion. Given that I have been absent from your lives for 22 years, I am sure it seems most surprising that Anakin Skywalker still lives. In reality, I have been mostly dead since your births, though now my strength increases each day. I welcome a message from you to communicate further._

 _A serious warning is in order – my host is a volatile, cruel, self-centered jerk who definitely does not play well with others. He is not at all reliable, though he too is showing some minor signs of improvement. If you contact me, please ensure that you cannot be easily traced; indeed, after your transmission you should move to a new location quickly. The last thing I want is for either or both of you to end up in an Imperial cell, or for you to compromise the Alliance._

 _Lastly, please know that the day Padme told me she was pregnant with you was the very best day of my life, though neither of us knew she was carrying twins._

 _Sincerely, your father, Anakin Skywalker_

 _P.S. R2D2 was my faithful copilot during the Clone Wars. I sent a code along with this message to tap into a hidden memory back-up. He probably knows more now than he has in quite some time, assuming he had a memory wipe in the last decades._

 _P.S.S. What did you think of Palpatine's assassination? Was that fun or what?_

Leia lifted her eyes and stared at her brother, who was gazing blankly at a random wall.

"Padme?" she asked in a puzzled tone.

R2D2 whistled away and his reply showed up on the screen.

The princess looked shocked, "Padme Amidala of Naboo is our mother? Is that what you are saying?"

There were further beeps, and then a video appeared on the screen, one of a man and woman, standing on a terrace with a priest in the background. He was tall, dressed in robes, and his similarity to Luke was obvious. Likewise the woman, small and beautiful, looked amazingly like Leia.

Luke sucked in a startled breath and lurched forward. Dark head and blond head leaned over the holoscreen intently.

"It's a marriage ceremony!" Leia said in a hushed voice. "They were married, Luke!"

Luke felt tears gather in his eyes. He had long wondered about his mother and here was a sudden deluge of answers. His brain buzzed and whirled and danced in a fog of confusion ...

"But Anakin Skywalker is dead, Luke. Right?" Leia demanded. "That's what Obi-Wan said?"

Luke sat down again and lowered his face into his hands.

"Yeah," he mumbled, "Ben said that Vader betrayed and murdered Anakin Skywalker."

Solo had been courteously quiet through all this but now spoke up.

"Mostly dead? What does that even mean?"

Silence reigned before Luke stood up resolutely, "I don't know. But I think we should find out."

Leia stood up as well, "I agree. Han, are you willing to take us somewhere safe to send a holotransmission."

"Absolutely."


	5. Chapter 5

_The Executor_

 _In Orbit around Vyun_

 _One day later_

Darth Vader hovered over a supply list of stormtrooper rations.

It wasn't really his "thing" – dealing with such minor minutiae as supply issues for his men – but drastic times called for drastic measures.

" _This is incredibly boring_ ," Anakin commented.

"And if you had not foolishly bashed Palpatine to death with a statue, I would have had time to set up more storehouses for the men under my command throughout the galaxy. As it is, I'm regrettably scrambling."

" _Are you_ still _whining about that? You know it was the only way to take the old rancor by surprise."_

Vader ignored this in favor of adding a few more columns to his supply list. Bast, his castle on Vyun, was well stocked with numerous necessary items including weapons, food, and medical supplies. But ship movements on and off the planet were hindered by the frequent acid rain storms.

" _So,"_ Anakin stated, apparently uninterested in Vader's task at hand, " _sounds like things are more or less insane on Imperial Center. I read the reports with you; Sate Pestage and Ysanne Isard and several others fighting for power. It's quite amusing. If we are lucky, they'll destroy each other and the whole Empire will crumble."_

 _"_ If it does crumble, the galaxy will dissolve into anarchy. Sentients are foolish. They need a strong hand to rule them."

" _Like you?"_

"I fully intended to take the Throne, but your shenanigans at the Art Museum complicated the situation immensely."

He heard the sigh of exasperation, even as his personal com suddenly beeped, followed by a source code.

Vader stared at the source code. It was not familiar.

Perhaps someone wished to sell him something? There were fools who dialed random numbers searching for someone to scam by selling them mysterious stores of lommite ore or kyber crystals, or by threatening them with incarceration by stormtroopers for not paying their Imperial taxes. It would be a pleasure to put the fear of the Sith into such an individual, but he was busy ...

" _You'll want to take that,"_ Anakin instructed firmly.

A pause.

"Who is it?"

" _You'll see."_

Vader hesitated. Anakin was _so_ unreliable. But on the other hand, he needed to know what his Alter was up to.

With a sigh, he pushed the accept button with the Force.

There was a brief pause, and then the image of his twin children appeared on the screen.

He froze.

Twenty seconds ticked by.

Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa stared back, their eyes wide with shock.

Darth Vader was more flummoxed than he had been since ... since his Alter had smashed his master to death with a statue.

He saw the look of horror growing on his children's faces, and then Leia leaned forward hastily, obviously intending to cut the transmission.

He spoke quickly, "Anakin contacted you, did he not?"

There was a pause as the twins' expressions grew slack with wonder, followed by agonized distress.

It was Luke who spoke first, "You ... you vicious, cruel, brutal, _rancor_! You ... you've held him captive for 22 years? Even for you that is ... how could anyone ...?"

"You misunderstand," the Dark Lord interrupted, then paused. How was he going to explain this?

"No, I think Skywalker understands completely," the princess responded, her face filled with Padme's fierce light. "You didn't kill Anakin Skywalker, did you? You captured him. What kind of individual does that even to his worst enemy? But I know from my torture at your hands on the Death Star ..."

Vader flinched, openly.

"That nothing – nothing we can say will make any difference in your treatment of your greatest enemy, and he wants us ... he wants us to be safe, so ..."

Again, she reached forward to sever the connection.

Ever since Darth Vader had learned his child (then that his children) had survived, he had visualized this moment of truth. He had imagined standing tall before one or both of them in a cell, or perhaps at the end of a gantry over an endless chasm, or near a carbon freeze chamber, or in the Menarai restaurant in Imperial City. But whatever the possible setting, his statement would be grand, imposing, and measured.

"I am your father," the Dark Lord screeched rapidly.

(Yes, screeched. He hadn't previously been aware that the vocoder could screech, but clearly it could.)

Leia lurched back in her seat while Luke's jaw dropped.

A full minute passed.

" _You might want to say something more,"_ Anakin suggested.

"Anakin Skywalker is our father," Luke managed to say.

"I ... was Anakin Skywalker, long ago. At the rise of the Galactic Empire, I turned to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader."

Across the endless parsecs, the twins exchanged bewildered glances.

"Anakin Skywalker ..." Leia began, then trailed off.

Meanwhile, Vader had managed to track down the message his Alter had sent while he was unconscious.

" _I_ am volatile? Self-centered? Don't play well with others?" he demanded aloud to both Anakin and to his children. "The time for playing was long ago, but I'm not the volatile one. I'm not the fool who, without sufficient cogitation, crashed a piece of Kallistan gem into the Emperor's head, killing him, resulting in a truly chaotic situation. I too was eager to kill Sidious, but this was not the way ..."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Leia snapped, pulling herself out of her stupefaction, "You're saying you didn't kill the Emperor? The whole galaxy saw you do it! Are you saying ... what are you saying?"

Vader sighed. His daughter had reason enough to hate him but at least he had appeared sane enough during their previous ... encounters.

(Again, he flinched. He had tortured his own flesh and blood, Padme's daughter. How could he have missed the girl's remarkable resemblance to his angel?)

"Anakin," he rumbled unhappily, "is ... part of me. A separate part of me. He has ... grown more demanding since I discovered that I have a son, and now he is positively burdensome now that I learned that you two are twins. I was distracted at the Art Museum and he took over my body and killed Palpatine. I repeat that killing the Emperor was laudable, but I had no time to prepare my fight against the Royal Guards, with no plan for taking over the Imperial government, and I was badly injured ..."

He was rambling. He, Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith was rambling.

" _Yes, you are,_ " Anakin not so helpfully agreed.

Luke, perhaps mercifully interrupted him, "How did you know Leia and I are twins? We had absolutely no idea so how could you know?"

The great mask twitched slightly as its owner reoriented himself.

"The analysis chambers on Von-Alai were set to check all humans for a DNA match with my own blood," he explained patiently to his children. "I assumed an error had occurred when the princess was flagged by the system, but within hours discovered the truth, that ... that my dear Padme bore twins."

The twins' expressions took on a look of awe at this statement.

" _'Dear Padme'_ ," Luke repeated softly. "So ... you loved her?"

"I never ... I never stopped loving her. When ... when she died ..."

No, this would never do. Falling apart emotionally right now was not useful or helpful.

"But that is for another time," he said resolutely, pulling himself together. "While I find Anakin's interference enraging at times, I am most pleased that we have the opportunity to talk. Palpatine is dead, which means that you are both far safer. But this is a dangerous galaxy. I urge you both to come to me so I can guard and protect you ..."

Leia began making dramatic gagging noises, which cut off the Sith Lord's monologue.

"Come to you?" she scoffed incredulously. "To you? The man who tormented me for hours, who held me with a harsh grip while my entire planet was blown to pieces ..."

"I ... I deeply regret my actions towards you on the Death Star," Vader interrupted. "I give you my word that no harm will come to you if you ..."

"We will never, ever, ever, ever come to the vile, brutal psychopath who ..." Leia began.

"Leia," her twin interrupted. The two exchanged glances, and Luke stared directly into the Dark Lord's mask.

"We'll get back to you," the youth said abruptly, and leaned forward.

This time, the link was severed.

" _Well, that could have gone worse_ ," Anakin commented cheerily.

Darth Vader would have cheerfully strangled his Alter, except that they shared the same body. So that wouldn't work.

/

 _Main Crew area_

 _The Millennium Falcon_

 _In hyperspace_

Solo marched firmly into the crew area, sank down next to Leia at the dejarik table, reached over, and poured himself a finger of Corellian rum.

He threw it down his throat, then stared as the princess downed her own glass, then reached out and filled it again.

"Um, Leia?"

"Uh huh?"

"You're a small person. You drink too much of that and you'll be drunk before you know it."

The princess lifted her glass and stared directly into its smooth dark liquid.

"Sounds good to me," she returned flatly. "I'd love to be drunk."

"Personally, I have a rule that I only drink to celebrate. Running from your trouble in a bottle doesn't get you very far in life, Princess. I do make exceptions, but those just proves the rule," Han said as he drained another glass.

Solo sighed as Leia looked very unimpressed with his little lecture, even as Luke walked into the room carrying a bucket. A moment later, the bucket was on a side table. A moment after that, the youth had leaned forward and firmly thrust his head into the bucket. A moment after _that_ , Luke's head emerged, completely soaked with water, which proceeded to run down the boy's face and neck and into his gray Rebel uniform.

Han's eyes widened and he shot a horrified look at Leia.

"Don't worry," she said wearily. "Stress relief. Luke likes ducking his head in a bucket of water."

"Makes more sense than getting drunk," her twin returned irritably. "I won't have a headache tomorrow morning."

Skywalker turned back and again ducked his head into the bucket of water. This time water sloshed onto the table and then onto the floor.

"Kid!" Han protested, then subsided. Whatever. The _Falcon_ could handle a little water on the floor, and if he'd just found out that his father was a psychotic Sith Lord he'd probably want to get drunk too. Or ... stick his head in a bucket of water? Really? Must be a Tatooine thing.

A few more minutes passed with Han and Leia drinking and Luke sloshing his head in water, until finally Chewbacca came in, roaring indignantly.

The three humans were too inebriated or wet to pay much attention, so a moment later the Wookiee grabbed the rum and placed it out of reach, snatched the bucket (now mostly empty) from Luke and took it away, and then gave them a good talking to in Shyriiwook.

It was surprisingly effective. Even though Luke and Leia couldn't understand Chewbacca, they both realized that he disapproved of their coping mechanisms.

"That's right, Chewie!" Han very helpfully said to the twins, "See, I told you."

With a deep sigh, they exchanged glances, after which Luke got up and wandered into the refresher for a rather dilapidated towel. After drying himself and the table and the floor, he slumped down onto a chair at the dejarik table.

"So ..." he began.

"So." Leia agreed.

"Your old man is a Sith Lord psychopath with a multiple personality disorder," Han said firmly.

All four sentients cogitated this statement, and then Leia spoke.

"I guess it would more accurately be described as a Binary Personality Disorder. There are only Vader and Anakin, as far as we know."

"I don't think that makes it much better," Luke stated gloomily.

Chewbacca roared again, and this time Han translated, "Princess Leia, I have no wish to bring up agonizing memories, but did Vader show signs of mental fragmentation during your previous encounters?"

Leia craned her head up at the tall Wookiee, then leaned back, shook her head slightly, and closed her eyes.

"No," she said after a moment. "No, he was cruel and vicious, but he was totally ... there. No signs of an alternate personality breaking through at _any_ time."

"Of course, he could be lying about the whole Anakin thing," Solo suggested. "Maybe in the hopes of enticing you to come to him?"

"That ... doesn't feel right," Luke said slowly. "I think the Anakin personality is real. I don't know a lot about ... about Vader, but the letter we got doesn't sound like him. And realistically, smashing Palpatine in the head on the live Holonet was not quite what I would expect from Vader either..."

He trailed away.

Leia nodded, "I agree, Luke. I believe Darth Vader truly does have a secondary personality, Anakin Skywalker, our true father."

"And for whatever reason," Luke continued, "the knowledge that we survived is giving Anakin more strength. It sounds like he's been submerged for decades and is now a far greater factor in Vader's ... in the actions of Vader's body."

He groaned, "That sounds so weird."

"Yep," Solo agreed.

For a moment, all was silent, and then Luke spoke again, determinedly, "I have to go to him."

Leia jerked noticeably and turned to her brother, " _What?!_ Are you crazy?"

"No, Leia, I'm not," Luke replied, his eyes steely with determination. "Don't you see? Anakin ... Anakin is breaking through. And even the Vader part is affected by our existence. He said he loved our mother, that he wanted us safe. That he wanted Palpatine dead, presumably because of us! I ... might be able to, I don't know, give the Anakin part of him even more strength? Or help them integrate? I just ... I just know I need to go to him."

Leia stood up to her full 1.5 meter height, her eyes flashing, "You will not, Commander Luke Skywalker. I am not just your sister, I am your superior officer, and I will not allow you to throw your life away ..."

"Don't you dare pull that 'superior officer' card, Leia," her twin responded, incensed. "This isn't a military decision, it's a personal one ..."

"Which makes no sense at all. You are a member of the Alliance and you can't just waltz off on your own insane mission ..."

"And you are being irrational. The best thing we could do is ... is bring Anakin Skywalker back ... which in a weird way would be like defeating Vader."

"Which is impossible! Luke, I know the man, I know his vicious cruelty, his devotion to Darkness ..."

"Leia, all I ever wanted was to know my father!" Luke shouted.

There was a dreadful silence, and then tears filled Leia Organa's eyes, and began trickling down her cheeks.

"Luke, I can't bear to lose you," she said with a sob.

Luke cringed openly at the sight of his incredibly strong sister _crying_ , and shook his head, "You ... you won't. I don't think. Leia ..."

"Ok, time out for both of you," Solo interrupted firmly. "Let's sleep on it. It's been a crazy day and it is hard to make good decisions when you're exhausted, emotional, drunk and/or wet. Believe me, I know ... except for the wet part."

Leia wiped her face, slightly ashamed and nodded, "You're right, Han. Let's get some rest."

 _Author Note: Anyone else get those crazy scam phone calls threatening that 'the constable' will come and arrest us if we don't pay our taxes? We've had several. It would be fun if someone tried that on Vader in the Star Wars universe._


	6. Chapter 6

_Darth Vader's private chambers_

 _The Executor_

 _In orbit around Vjun_

 _10 hours later_

Vader knew the _Executor_ needed to leave the Vjun's orbit soon. The necessary supplies had been transferred from his castle on Bast, and though the _Executor_ was a behemoth, a navy all by itself, he shouldn't be caught here by any fleet hunting him down.

Though truly, he wasn't terribly concerned about that at the moment. Anakin was correct, the infighting on Imperial Center meant that it was unlikely anyone would hunt him down. Yet.

Except for Admiral Thrawn. He might.

At any rate, there was no real reason to stay here. Except that ... the children might call back and he'd be out of reach in hyperspace.

Not that they were likely to call back. He had harmed both children. He knew that. He acknowledged it. And how was he going to find – or capture – either child now with the galaxy in turmoil? If Palpatine was still alive he'd be second in command of the Empire, with nearly limitless resources at his disposal ...

He examined that thought. Did he really want Sidious still breathing?

No. For all that Anakin was a lunatic, Darth Vader was very glad that his master was dead. Regardless of the consequences.

" _You're welcome_ ," Anakin commented snidely, _"and 'capturing' the twins shouldn't be one of the options you consider acceptable."_

The com chimed, interrupting Vader's cogitation on the best response. His heart would have skipped a beat if possible, because the source code was ...

He quickly accepted the call. The holo formed more slowly this time, revealing the determined face of his son.

Joy warred with concern. Where was Leia?

"Where is your sister?" Vader demanded.

The youth stared back, his eyebrows raised, "She doesn't want to talk to you. You can't blame her for that. Or maybe you can."

"No," Vader responded. "No, I understand."

There was a brief pause, and then Luke spoke formally, "May I speak to Anakin, please?"

Behind the mask, Darth Vader blinked. Then blinked again.

"What?"

"Anakin. I want to speak to him," his boy responded stubbornly.

Vader stared back, incredulous, "No. You cannot. Anakin is ... is a part of me, but he is not ... able to speak."

 _"I could if you let me,"_ Anakin commented irascibly. " _Even if I would sound weird with that odd vocoder of yours._ "

Vader and Luke glared at one another for a long moment before the Dark Lord continued, "Anakin is hardly reliable, young one. Even if he could talk, I would not allow him to lead you astray."

Now the young face looked indignant, "Astray? Astray? You're the one whose stormtroopers went on a search and destroy mission looking for the droids on Tatooine, resulting in the murder of my aunt and uncle and the destruction of the only home I'd ever known. You're the one who tortured my sister for hours, trying to rip the location of ..."

"Enough!" Vader interrupted angrily (because he really did feel horribly guilty about harming his children), "Anakin was a weak, foolish child."

(" _Hey!_ ")

"He failed his wife, he ... he did not save his mother ..."

Vader's voice trailed away. How many years had it been since he had thought of his mother?

Luke's brow was wrinkled in bewilderment now, "Grandma Shmi? How did you fail her? I thought the sandpeople killed her."

The Sith's heart thudded repetitively, as always, "He ... he knew she was in danger. He had dreams of her suffering and death. But he delayed in going back to Tatooine until it was too late."

" _That is true enough,"_ Anakin agreed softly, sadly.

Luke sighed, "I'm sorry you lost Grandma Shmi, Father."

Joy at the unexpected title, anger at ...

" _I_ did not fail her, Anakin did."

"And it is totally bizarre how you keep referring to yourself in the third person, Father. I mean, really, you are not two entirely separate people. You do realize that, right?"

Vader's mind twisted and turned and roiled and then, uncompromisingly, "I will not allow you to speak to him."

"Then we are done here," Luke snapped back, reaching forward.

"Luke!" Vader said quickly.

The youth's hand paused.

"I will be ... leaving my current locale soon and will be hyperspace for at least a standard day. But please know I welcome contact at any time from you or your sister."

Luke stared at him for a long moment and then shook his head, "Don't hold your breath. Not that you can, I guess."

The holoscreen went black.

Anakin was typically irritable.

" _Well, that was stupid. You chased him off."_

/-

 _Leia's cabin_

 _The Millennium Falcon_

 _In hyperspace_

 _1 hour later_

"Grandma Shmi?" Leia asked curiously, looking up from the recording of her brother's short conversation with their binary personality Sith Lord father.

"Yeah," Luke said, then looked sad, "I knew that she was killed by sandpeople – Tusken Raiders, as they're known officially – but I had no idea that Anakin was around during that time."

Leia lifted a hand and carefully smoothed her braids.

"What do you know about her, Luke?" she asked softly. "She ... she was my grandmother as well. I haven't even thought about the reality that Darth Vader had parents, and our mother Padme as well ..."

Her twin's face was troubled, "I really don't know a lot. Uncle Owen would hardly talk about her, not because he disliked her. Aunt Beru told me that he adored her. I think talking about her hurt too much. I thought the Tuskens raided and she was killed during the raid, but maybe it was more complex?"

"So Owen was ... was Anakin's brother?" Leia persevered.

Luke shook his head slowly, "I don't know, Leia. I ... am inclined to think not. The last names are different, for one thing. And I know Grandma Shmi was a slave at one point ..."

"A slave!"

"Yes, Skywalker is a slave name on Tatooine. And I remember Aunt Beru telling me I was freeborn because my mom was freeborn ..."

His voice trailed away and Leia spoke now, in awe, "So does that mean that Anakin was ... was a slave at some point?"

"Again, I don't know, but it seems likely," Luke said, obviously frustrated. He stood up and began pacing.

"Uncle Owen just wouldn't tell me about my father. I don't know if he knew he became Darth Vader or just knew that Jedi were big trouble in the time of the Empire? He lied and obfuscated and told half truths about Father. So I just don't know what is true."

Leia stood up as well and wrapped an arm around her twin, "It's Ok, Luke. We'll figure out what we have to."

Han, who had been leaning quietly against a wall, spoke up now, "You know, Kid, I think you're right about Vader being ... being kind of conflicted. There is more to the guy than being big, tall and ugly."

He saw the anger in Leia's face and spoke quickly, "He's a crummy person, Leia, I'm not saying he isn't. I just wonder if Luke's right, that there is a better person in there just waiting to break out. Like maybe the Anakin character is more connected than Vader realizes. Or ... maybe he's just nuts."

Leia sighed, "Well, it is still insane for Luke to even consider going to him."

"I agree," Solo concurred, "but given how important Vader is in the galactic scheme of things, there might be an argument for talking to him more, from a safe distance."

The princess scowled rather hideously, "I have to get back to the Fleet. I got permission from General Rieekan to take off for a little while, but I have responsibilities."

"Then if Han can spare the time and the _Falcon_ , maybe we can drop you off and I can try again to talk to Anakin?" Luke suggested rather hopefully.

Leia lifted an eyebrow, "Vader said 'no.'"

"I haven't tried my adorable baby shaak look on him," Luke said cheerfully, "so maybe I can get him to change his mind?"

Leia sighed and stared at the ceiling, then switched to the floor, then to the walls, before finally zeroing her gaze in on her brother.

"You really want to talk to him?"

"Yes."

"Ok," she said slowly, "but make sure you keep moving and stay safe."

/-

 _The Executor_

 _In orbit around Zygerria_

 _A week later_

To the Sith's vague surprise, he was collecting a genuine fleet. His (Anakin's) abrupt assassination of Palpatine, followed by the fight against the Royal Guards which had resulted in significant damage to his cyborg body, had resulted in a rather flustered escape from Imperial Center. As he had told Anakin more than once, he had made no plans for this bizarre scenario.

But on Vjun, the extremely competent Admiral Piett had sent out various messages to possible allies, and here on Zygerria, new ships arrived by the hour. It appeared that Imperial Security Bureau head Ysanne Isard and Imperial Vizier Sate Pestage were wreaking havoc on Imperial Center and scaring the living daylights out of many an Imperial Captain. He'd be able to take over the galaxy at this rate.

But while that was thoroughly appealing, part of his mind was always on the twins.

Where were they? What did they think of him? Of Anakin Skywalker? Were they safe? Were they freezing on some disgusting Rebel outpost? (You could never tell with the Rebel Alliance. They were fools enough to put a base on Hoth or somewhere ridiculous like that!) Were they carelessly sending Luke out on some insane and risky mission? Was his daughter trying to woo unstable rebellious groups to the Alliance's side, with the result that she was at risk of capture or death?

The more he tried not to think about the children, the more he did. He was, he admitted to himself, being obsessive, perhaps even more than usual.

" _I really think obsession was part of our problem_ ," Anakin mused. " _We were so worried about losing people we loved that maybe we, I don't know, set ourselves up for loss? A psychiatrist could write holopapers about us, we're so messed up."_

"I hardly need a psychiatrist," the Sith responded coldly.

" _You'd choke the poor man or woman anyway,"_ his Alter stated cheerfully.

Vader remained firmly silent as he prepared for the upcoming meeting with his chief officers. With his fleet expanding rapidly, more high level officers were involved. Some were no doubt fickle, others incompetent, others likely were spies for Isard or Pestage or Thrawn. And while he didn't enjoy administration, he was reasonably good at it. As dull as these meetings were, they were important.

" _You're actually a very good administrator_ ," Anakin complimented him unexpectedly, " _I admit I was impatient about such matters but you're a veritable poem of competence."_

"A poem of competence?" Vader responded in astonishment, goaded into replying at this most un-Anakin like utterance.

" _It sounds like something Padme would say. Maybe?"_

Moons of Iago.

" _So have you thought more about when Luke ..."_

"I will allow you to speak to him," Vader interrupted firmly.

" _Really?"_

"Yes, really. Because you've been bothering me about it for the last week, and singing Tatooine funeral dirges when I try to sleep, and I freely admit that I am edging steadily closer to insanity. Yes, I will let you speak to him if you promise to encourage him to come to me for protection, to keep him safe."

" _Didn't you say something stupid to Padme about protecting her on Mustafar, right before you choked ..."_

"Do not speak of that!" Vader snarled, his voice echoing against the wall. _And_ he was talking out loud to himself again.

" _No need to get huffy,"_ Anakin responded reasonably. " _It was a horrible thing to do but you didn't kill her. Remember that._ "

Vader focused on his breathing. Right. He hadn't killed her. Even though Sidious had told her that he had, had kept him in chains of guilt for more than 20 years believing that he had murdered his angel ...

The com chimed.

/

 _The Millennium Falcon_

 _Deep space_

The holoscreen image cleared to reveal the now familiar visage of Lord Darth Vader, dark mask gazing forward, breathing steady.

"May I speak to Anakin, please?" Luke asked doggedly.

"Yes," Vader said to his immense surprise.

Luke's eyes widened, "Really?"

"Anakin has been making a thorough nuisance of himself. Wait."

Two minutes passed, and the deep bass voice spoke again.

"Hello, Luke."

"Hello ... Anakin?"

"Yes, it is indeed me. I have to say this is very weird. I haven't spoken out loud in more than twenty years. And this vocoder! It sounds so ... so peculiar!"

Luke blinked. This sure didn't sound like Vader.

"Yes, it is peculiar," he agreed. "So ... so how are you doing?"

"Well, you know ... ok I guess. I've been trapped inside the brain and soul of a psychotic Sith Lord for more than twenty years, which is not much fun. But things have been improving. And I can't tell you how happy I am that you and Leia are healthy and thriving."

Luke nodded, his brow furrowed, even as he said hesitantly, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Ask away. I don't promise to answer though. Some things I don't know, and other things are ... too painful."

"How ... uh ... how old are you. I mean, how old do you feel like you are?"

The great mask tilted as if the occupant was considering, and when the cyborg spoke, the tone was admiring through the vocoder.

"You know, that's a great question. Early 20's. I think I rather stopped maturing when Vader took over. I mean, I have matured a little. I can see I was a selfish, callow jerk sometimes when I was in my teens. But I still feel like I'm 22 or so. Thrilled about, but not really ready to be, a father. And here you are, an adult son, with an adult twin sister. It's amazing."

Luke had been doubtful, of course. Vader was entirely capable of trying to trick him. But now he knew this truly was Anakin. The speech patterns were all wrong for Vader, and the admission of immaturity was compelling.

"I was pretty immature too," the youth confided. "When I was on Tatooine, working on the farm, I whined so much about being stuck on the planet ..."

"Tatooine _is_ horrible," Anakin interrupted firmly. "Sand everywhere, and it's coarse, rough, and irritating."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, "but Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen were really kind to me. I shouldn't have been so ungrateful. They did so much to take care of me."

"They were really good people," Anakin responded. "I am so sorry that they were murdered by the Empire."

There was a pause now and the great mask tilted down, before Anakin spoke again.

"Vader is bugging me. He wants you to come to him."

Luke took a few deep, cleansing breaths, before he spoke again, "Do you think I should? Can I trust him?"

"You cannot trust him to make the right decision. He's wallowing in the Dark Side, after all. You can trust him to care about you and Leia though. He definitely does. I don't know, Luke. I think on one hand it would help us both to have you here. On the other hand, it's definitely dangerous."

"You don't think he'd torture me for Rebel secrets?" Luke asked worriedly. He knew a lot, more than he probably should. And while Leia had withstood interrogation, he wasn't absolutely sure he was as strong as his sister.

The cyborg body jerked suddenly.

"No need to shout!" Anakin said aloud, then sighed through the vocoder. "No. Vader really does feel horrible about hurting your sister. No, he won't mean to hurt you, but he's got a temper and you likely won't be very compliant. The last time he and Padme met, they got into an argument and ..."

Again, the cyborg body jerked.

"Enough of this!" the voice was now somehow different. Colder, darker.

"Vader?" Luke asked cautiously.

"We will not speak of ... of that. I never meant to harm Padme. I loved her. I promise you I will not mistreat you in any way, my son. You and your sister must come to me. The galaxy is in turmoil and only with me will you be safe."

Luke stared at him for a long moment, before leaning back and closing his eyes.

He thought, hard.

"Let me talk to Leia," he said finally as he leaned forward and turned off the com.

/-

 _Author Note: Many thanks for your patience on the rather slow updating. Hope you enjoyed! And kudos to my wonderful husband who keeps me supplied with chocolate and edits for me so competently!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Mos Espa_

 _Tatooine_

 _Evening_

 _4 weeks later_

Darth Vader glumly strode toward the large, if nondescript, building 100 meters from him. The road was paved, at least, but thanks to Tatooine's pervasive sand, his black boots were kicking up plenty of particles, most of which seemed bent on infiltrating his breathing apparatus or settling into prosthetic joints.

In the distance, Tatooine's second sun dipped toward the horizon, painting the sky with yellows and reds. It was, he supposed, beautiful, if one was into beauty. But the air was still stifling, the molecules dancing frenetically from the energy of the twin suns.

Of all the planets in the galaxy ...

"Why here?" he demanded of Anakin.

" _I don't know. It stinks,"_ his Alter responded, for once in agreement.

Vader heaved a deep sigh and strode closer. At least Luke was close. He could sense a strong, vibrant Force presence in the building ahead, a presence so like, but so different from, Padme ... and Anakin.

Leia wasn't here, though. That wasn't a surprise, but it was a disappointment.

The Dark Lord reached the southwest corner of the building and descended a flight of stairs to a large landing. The door was closed, and two brutish Gamorrean guards stood in front of it, along with a Twi'lek male, his skin pasty white, his eyes red.

"Your pass, sir?" the Twi'lek demanded.

"I need no pass," the Sith growled in return. A pass, really? For Darth Vader?

"Everyone needs a pass," the major domo responded, even as he gestured to the guards.

The Gamorreans lifted their spears and stepped forward.

Darth Vader gestured with one hand and hurled both guards against the walls. They squeaked in distress and dismay, then slumped to the floor.

The Twi'lek gasped in surprise, then for breath as the Dark Lord closed off his throat with the Force.

Once the pale one was unconscious (or dead, Vader didn't know and didn't care) he stepped past the crumpled guards, opened the door, and strode through.

The short corridor led him into a large room where he halted in surprise. He had known, through the Force, that there were many sentients in the building. And given that this was a Hutt establishment (and why was Luke here, in a Hutt den?) he had expected the drinking and the gambling and the maelstrom of enthusiastic revelers. But there was something else going on here, something odd ...

"Darth Vader!" a voice exclaimed from his left.

The Dark Lord turned to stare at a human male, above average height, dark haired, brown eyes, fine goatee, dressed in Hutt colors. Behind him was a long bar where numerous females of a variety of alien races were busy making drinks for the attendees.

"Darth Vader," the man said again, with an expression of awe and delight but not, oddly enough, fear. He shook his head, then continued, "This is truly amazing, sir. I must say that while I've seen two other Vaders today, you are by far the best. Is he really that tall? Scary. And the breathing. Amazing. Let me get you a drink, on the house."

The Dark Lord stared in bewilderment, even as his brain caught up with his rather bizarre environs.

Costumes. This was some kind of costume ball. Or party. Or orgy.

"Two blue banthas, please."

Vader turned again in blank astonishment and found himself gazing into the face of his son.

Luke smiled at him, rather tremulously, before turning to the host, "Light on the ale, please."

The human male tilted his head slightly and frowned, "And who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm Luke Skywalker."

The man frowned slightly and then his face cleared, "The kid who won the Boonta Eve Classic 30 years ago? That's obscure but clever. And very appropriate considering."

Luke's eyes widened and he shot a startled look at his father, "Um ..."

"Luke Skywalker is a Rebel," Vader interposed drily. "He blew up the Death Star."

"Ah, yes," the man said even as he turned to gesture to a young female Tortuga, who promptly began working on Blue Bantha drinks. "Or that's what the Rebellion claims, anyway. My personal guess is that the Death Star blew up thanks to some internal error or sabotage or something. But who knows? And who cares?"

"That makes sense," Luke agreed solemnly. "I mean really, how could anyone blow up a giant space station using a snub fighter? It's pretty ridiculous. But politicians will say anything."

The man waved an elegant hand, "Politics. Too complicated for my blood. I will say this, though. You don't look menacing enough for the real Luke Skywalker."

"It's the hair, isn't it?" Luke responded with a wry smile, "It's too long and floppy. My friends say I'm cute."

"You _are_ cute," a Twi'lek barmaid said aloud with a flirty smile, even as she carried the two Blue Banthas towards the twosome.

"Uh, thanks," Luke said, blushing. He glanced at Vader even as he took the two drinks, "Shall we?"

Bewildered but willing, Darth Vader followed his son away from the bar and into a small room. There were four chairs, all of them on the small size for a giant Sith Lord, and a dingy and pockmarked table with a deck of sabacc cards. Luke set down the drinks and turned towards his father, his face now solemn.

"Thank you for coming, Father. And not descending with a bazillion stormtroopers."

Vader hesitated for a moment and then, impelled by a combination of Anakin and Vader, stepped forward and placed his hands on the boy's slim shoulders. Luke stiffened in surprise, but to his credit, did not retreat or cringe.

For the first time since he had caressed Padme's swollen belly, Darth Vader was in the presence of his child.

"My son," he said softly. "My son."

Luke froze for a moment, then responded by lifting his hands to touch his sire's gigantic arms.

"So who is this," he murmured softly, "Anakin or Vader?"

Vader reluctantly released his hold and stepped back, "Vader, with, I admit, a touch of Anakin. Perhaps we are integrating to some degree."

The boy's eyes brightened, "That sounds good!"

"Perhaps," Vader said wearily. "Perhaps. So, my son, I hope you'll be good enough to explain why we are meeting here? On Tatooine? I was under the impression that you did not appreciate Tatooine's climate or culture."

Luke sighed and picked up a glass of Blue Bantha, then tilted it to stare dubiously into its depths.

"Do you suppose this is safe to drink ...?" he began, then stopped as the drink was removed firmly with the Force and floated back onto the table.

"Assuredly not," the Dark Lord responded. "You are rather young to be drinking spirits anyway."

His son blinked at him owlishly, "I'm 22, Father. Not 6. Not that I like alcohol much but this is mostly blue milk and I love blue milk."

"Given the cleanliness of this establishment, I question its safety," Vader replied, firmly.

Luke looked mulish for a moment, then sighed, "The ale kind of messes up the taste anyway. Ok, you asked why here. I ..."

The youth's voice trailed away and looked out into the main room for a moment, before returning to gaze into his father's eyes.

(Which was amazing. Because of course 99.99% of the galaxy couldn't pinpoint the location of his eyes. His son was looking directly ...)

(But ... and oh, how late he was to realize this ... Leia had also found his eyes on the _Tantive IV_ , when she had been dragged in bonds to him, when she had challenged him with her regal demeanor and disdainful words... before that dark cell in the Death Star, when he ...)

(No, he would not think of that.)

Luke frowned slightly, as if picking up on his sire's mental perturbation, "I thought Tatooine was practical, for one thing. It's my home world so I know the area and politics. It's not under any kind of Imperial control now that you killed the Emperor and the galaxy is in chaos. This costume party was a great place for both of us to blend in since most people are dressed up as someone. And I figured if you decided to come in all scorched earth and bomb the place to oblivion, at least you'd be targeting the Hutts."

The Dark Lord withdrew a horrified step, "Do you imagine I would risk harming you, Luke?"

Luke tilted his head carefully, "I don't know, Father. I mean, I am a Rebel and I really did blow up the Death Star and I am ... I am your enemy. I know Anakin is on my side, but I couldn't be sure about Vader."

Darth Vader cycled through 5 respirations before he spoke, and when he did, his voice was as gentle as he could make it, "You and your sister are the most important beings in the galaxy to me, my son."

Luke narrowed his eyes, then nodded, "Good. I guess? That sounds kind of obsessive. Anyway, I felt kind of bad about this locale once I got here an hour ago."

He turned and walked to the door of the room and gazed out, his back to his father.

"I loathe the Hutts, but most of the sentients here are ... harmless enough. Or slaves."

Vader stepped up behind him and looked around with a mixture of disbelief and reluctant amusement. He spotted two Darth Vaders, both half a meter too short. There was at least one Relinka Spetzv, the Holonet news anchor, and a group of Dugs and Grans dressed up as some of the great swoop racers of old. Including at least one Sebulba, the pod racer from long ago who ...

 _"I hated that guy_ ," Anakin commented inwardly. " _Lousy cheater. He almost killed me during the Boonta Eve_."

"Indeed," Vader returned distractedly to his Alter.

"So why the pod racing motif, my son?" he asked aloud.

Luke turned around now and looked up with a smile of enthusiasm, "Because they are racing the Boonta Eve tomorrow! Thanks to the Emperor's death and the Hutt tightening of Tatooine politics, which isn't good of course, they are running the Boonta Eve openly. And speaking of that ..."

His boy's eyes brightened to a near frenzy of curiosity and enthusiasm, "The host out there said something about Skywalker racing the Boonta Eve 30 years ago. Was that ... was that you?"

"Yes, and I won," Anakin said out loud, taking Vader by surprise. He was indeed having serious trouble controlling his Alter when Anakin could just start chattering away like this. What was he going to do ...?

The thought ended abruptly as Luke actually began hopping up and down in excitement.

"You ... you won the Boonta Eve? That is so incredibly awesome. What year was it? How ... I thought Humans couldn't win pod racing, though of course if anyone could, it would be you. I want to ... can you please tell me about it? That is so exciting!"

Darth Vader stared at his son's bright visage for a long moment, hesitated, then nodded.

"Very well. I was ... but a child of 9 ..."

/-

 _Landing Bay #2_

 _Rebel Base_

 _Hoth_

Leia Organa lifted her head up from her datapad and groaned aloud as the ramp to her craft lowered and the biting cold of Hoth infiltrated her bones. She had just returned from a bracing round of negotiation on the desert planet of Jakku, and this climate was a rude shock. She was too skinny for this kind of nonsense. And not hairy enough. Chewbacca would do well here ...

That thought trailed away into nothing as she descended onto the icy bay, because Chewbacca was waiting for her. With Han.

She was down the ramp in an instant, her eyes wide, her nostril flaring with a mixture of distress and fear.

"Where is Luke?" she demanded, panting slightly.

Because he wasn't on Hoth. She would have known – they could sense one another now when they were physically close. But she had assumed Han and Chewie and Luke were on the _Falcon_ somewhere but no, Han was here, which meant the _Falcon_ was here ...

Han Solo's face was a mixture of guilt and nervousness.

"Leia," he began awkwardly. "Leia, I'm so sorry. He took off on me. On all of us."

"Where?" she demanded.

Though she knew where. Or more accurately, to Who.

Han silently held out a datapad, which she opened with a trembling finger.

 _"Dearest Leia,_

 _I'm off to see Father._

 _I know this will infuriate you and I'd love to say that I made this decision without consulting you because I thought it would be easier for you._

 _But I don't want to lie to you._

 _So truth is, you scare me sometimes. I mean, not like you'll hurt me but oh, those eyes, that furrowed brow, that royal look of disapproval! It all makes me quake in my boots._

 _So yeah, I just took the easy way out and volunteered for a quick recon of one of Hoth's moons and then went into hyperspace._

 _(I'm guessing Rieekan and company are also honked off – see if you can smooth things over me, will you?)_

 _Seriously, dear sister, I know this is the right thing to do. He's shifting and changing and I'm going to help. If I can bring back Father then I will have done more for the galaxy than I could ever do in a snub fighter._

 _I'll try to call you sometime._

 _I love you._

 _Luke_

Leia read this, then read it again, then read it again.

Then she lifted her head to stare straight into Han's brown eyes.

"I'm going to kill him," she said through clenched teeth.

Chewbacca howled, and Han shook his head, "No you won't. 'Cause I'm going to get to him first and I'll kill him."

She sighed, shook her head, and found herself suddenly in Han's arms.

"Oh, Han ..."

"He'll be Ok, Leia," Solo said softly. "I'm sure of it.

/-

 _Author Note: I know many of you have been lying awake at night wondering where LPK9 got herself to. No, I wasn't abducted by Star Wars aliens. But I did unexpectedly need major surgery and have been sitting around on a couch popping Tylenol and ibuprofen for a few weeks now. Anyway, I'm back though writing more slowly than usual. I will finish this fic! And_ Dalam Enterprises. _Eventually._


	8. Chapter 8

_The_ Eclipse

 _Docking Bay 94_

 _Mon Espa spaceport_

 _1 day later_

"Is that legal?" Luke demanded incredulously, his eyes fixed on the large viewscreen in the main cabin of the _Eclipse_.

The ship, on the outside, was a rather delapidated VCX-100 light freighter which blended in well with the other ships in Mon Espa spaceport. On the inside, it was augmented with everything that credits could buy.

Anakin chuckled, an odd sound through the vocoder, "Where pod racing is concerned, nothing is illegal. That was a very standard move, Luke. The Dug is lucky to be alive after being knocked into a rock wall, but Dugs are tough. And the Gran – well, his methods are nothing compared to Sebulba, the Dug who nearly knocked me out of the Boonta Eve 35 years ago. In retrospect, it is obvious that my power in the Force allowed me to prevail, though I didn't know it at the time."

Luke shook his head in awe even as he focused on the end of the race, "It's so dangerous! I mean, I'd pod race in a heartbeat 'cause I'm crazy, but I'm surprised how many other crazy people there are out there!"

Another deep chuckle, and Anakin put an affectionate hand on his son's shoulder, "You are truly my son, Luke. It was dangerous, but I loved flying so much that I never passed on any opportunity to race."

"I used to fly through Beggar's Canyon on my T-16 Skyhopper when I was younger," Luke said, his eyes alight with excitement. "It was fantastic. My best friend Biggs and I both managed to thread the Stone Needle, which was intense and would have given Uncle Owen a heart attack if he'd known. I also used to shoot womp rats at full speed. The thermal exhaust port on the Death Star wasn't much harder than that ..."

Darth Vader kept his eyes on his son's face, content to let the boy and Anakin speak.

It felt odd to let his Alter have his voice for the three hours of the Boonta Eve Classic, but Vader was reluctantly aware that Anakin was forging a relationship with Luke that was quite beyond a Sith Lord's capability to manage. Anakin and Luke clearly had much in common and their shared disgust with sand, Hutts, slavery, and blazing heat meant they had maintained a busy conversation since the Boonta Eve had started a few hours ago.

But the pod race was finished now, and the time was ripe for the next step when Vader would need to take over to discuss what would happen next.

But he admitted he was putting it off. Luke was so happy right now. The Dark Lord could feel his joy.

"So what are we doing now?" Luke demanded suddenly, even as he shoved a last piece of crispa bread into his mouth. "I mean, that was lots of fun but I assume we aren't hanging out on Tatooine long term. I hope not anyway."

Vader hesitated, then spoke, "We are returning to my Fleet, which is massing near Zyggeria."

Luke nodded, "Ok."

Vader blinked a few times, before saying cautiously, "You are not ... opposed?"

His son looked surprised, "I came here knowing you were going arrest me or take me into custody or whatever euphemism you want to use. Or kill me – but thankfully you don't want to kill me. So yeah. I'm here for you, Father. I always wanted to know you and honestly, you are super important from a galactic perspective and more than a little unstable given that you have binary personalities. You're stuck with me because I think I can help you."

Darth Vader felt a sudden lurching feeling of unaccustomed joy.

"I ... I am glad, my son."

Luke drank down the last few sips of blue milk from his cup, then waved the cup around dramatically, "But one thing, Father. I want to learn the ways of the Force. From Anakin. Not you. Because the Dark Side is lousy."

Vader sighed.

"Works for me," Anakin said aloud, cheerily.

"We will discuss this once we are underway," Vader riposted smoothly.

Luke's eyebrows rose toward his hairline, "You are so weird when you do that."

/-

 _Conference Room #3_

 _The_ Executor

 _In orbit around Zyggeria_

 _5 days later_

General Maximilian Veers and Doctor Lenz Sert rose to their feet as the door slid open and Darth Vader strode into room.

Walking in front of Vader was a short young man dressed in gray, and behind them both was Admiral Firmus Piett.

Both Veers and Sert straightened their bodies and saluted. Being called in for a private meeting with Darth Vader was always unnerving, and now, with the galaxy in upheaval, it was ever so much more so.

"General Veers, Doctor Sert, sit down," Vader ordered.

The men obeyed, even as the young one at Vader's side shot the behemoth a quick glance before also sinking into a chair. Piett sat down next to the unknown.

"General, Admiral, Doctor," Vader said abruptly. "This is Luke Skywalker."

There was a long, blank pause as all three men turned startled eyes toward the young man. He in turn gazed back rather doubtfully.

"Luke Skywalker?" Veers repeated. "Of the Rebel Alliance?"

"Uh, formerly of the Rebel Alliance," Skywalker said carefully.

Piett leaned forward, his eyes intent, "So you've defected?"

The youth's blue eyes widened in apparent dismay, "No, no! I'm still a Rebel at heart, but I ... uh ... realized my place is here ... because ... uh ..."

He looked up now at Vader, beseechingly.

"Because Luke is my son," the cyborg said, stepping forward to place a mechanical hand on his progeny's shoulder.

There was a frozen minute.

"So that's where the DNA sample came from," Doctor Sert muttered, before his eyes widened in shock. "But that means Organa ..."

He trailed away. He was going to get himself killed if he didn't shut up.

"That is correct, Doctor," Skywalker said gravely. "Leia Organa is my twin sister and therefore Darth Vader's biological daughter. Which is ... complicated. We have family issues, obviously."

Veers and Piett exchanged a short, horrified, shocked, distressed, worried glance.

Really, this was _way_ too much information about Darth Vader.

"I am giving you three this information because I will be largely secluding myself for the next few weeks to spend time with my son," Vader said firmly. "Given the complex situation on Imperial Center after the Emperor's death, I believe the safest course is to maintain our fleet here around Zyggeria and work on improving troop strength, as well as augmenting ship shielding and armaments."

Veers opened his mouth, shut it, then opened it again, then shut it.

"Yes, General," Vader demanded impatiently.

"What about the Rebellion, my Lord?" Veers asked carefully. "If we stay near Zygerria they may attack. I fear that we might have difficulty if the full Alliance armada came down upon us."

"More to the point, my daughter is with the Alliance, and a battle would put her in danger ..." the Sith began fiercely, only to be interrupted by his son.

"Leia is a _leader_ of the Alliance," Skywalker said firmly. "I will contact her shortly and strongly urge that for at least this season, the Alliance leave my father's fleet alone. There are plenty of other factions to attack at the moment if they are so inclined."

Piett couldn't help himself, "And will the Alliance listen to the children of Darth Vader?"

Luke Skywalker lifted one eyebrow and smiled a little, "Good question, Admiral. Maybe. Probably? Leia's scary and regal and authoritative, and I'm ... not. I think together we can convince the Alliance to refrain from launching a suicidal attack."

/-

 _Leia Organa's tiny, cold office_

 _Rebel Base_

 _Hoth_

"Mon," Leia said gently. Then, when there was no response, "Mon!"

The red haired acknowledged leader of the Rebel Alliance shook her head suddenly as she came out of an apparent trance. She pulled her gaze away from the holoscreen which showed an image of Darth Vader and turned to her young friend.

"Padme ... Padme Amidala was your mother ...," Mon Mothma stated in a numb tone.

"Yes," Leia said in a surprised tone, "and Darth Vader is my father."

The former senator of Chandrila gazed with fascination into Leia's face, "True. But more importantly, you are Padme's daughter. That's incredible. My dear Leia, Padme was one of my closest friends in the Senate and a political genius. You would not believe what an amazing person she was. This is truly astonishing and wonderful!"

Leia raised an aristocratic eyebrow, "Mon, Darth Vader is my father."

The older woman focused on Leia's eyes and her own face suddenly grew sorrowful, "Oh Leia, yes, and on the Death Star he ..."

She shook her head, "I grieve for you, but I'm afraid I'm too flummoxed to handle this very well. Anakin Skywalker was married to Padme Naberrie and then he became Darth Vader. What a mess. Your poor mother. I wonder if she went after him and gave him a piece of her mind at the end because Padme would. My poor dear friend ..."

"Her or me?" Leia asked drily.

The woman leaned over and touched her young friend's shoulder gently, "Both of you. I'm so sorry, Leia. I am."

"I'm sorry too," Leia said with a sigh, leaning back in her chair. It creaked worrisomely. Even the furniture wasn't happy with the cold of Hoth.

"But," the princess continued firmly, "sorry won't help us much here. The question is what do we do? Vader killed the Emperor because apparently he was worried Palpatine would go after me and Luke. Which is weird and odd but excellent. A dead Palpatine is a good Palpatine. Vader himself is really peculiar right now what with this Anakin personality breaking through more and more. And Luke of course ran off like the heroic idiot he is and now he's with Vader somewhere."

Mothma groaned aloud, "I'm not entirely surprised given Skywalker's file. I mean, he has an intrepid streak a parsec long and a light minute wide. But it is of concern since he knows we are here on Hoth. He hasn't been trained extensively in resisting interrogation."

"He's ..." Leia began, then stopped, then started again. "Luke's not being interrogated. I just _know_ that. I do worry he might let something slip but I rather doubt Vader would send his troops to descend on us like a bunch of Dardanellian locusts. He has other burra fish to fry with Imperial Center in total disarray and Thrawn doing who knows what. And if the Empire attacked us, I might get _hurt_. And he wouldn't want _that,_ presumably."

This was said with considerable sarcasm. Mothma sighed aloud and said gently, "Based on the holos you've shown me, he does care about you and your brother, Leia. I met Anakin Skywalker more than once and I knew him by reputation, of course. If memory serves, he went to considerable effort to clear his padawan, Ahsoka Tano, when she was falsely accused of murder in the days of the Old Republic. Vader is of course a brutal, unstable psychopath. We know that. But the Anakin Skywalker side is obviously influencing Vader considerably. Perhaps your brother can bring more of Anakin Skywalker out."

"I hope so," Leia said with a worried frown. "I hope so."

/-

 _Med bay #3_

 _The_ Executor

 _In orbit around Zyggeria_

 _3 hours later_

Doctor Sert nodded to the trooper sitting on the exam table even as he handed him a frozen pack.

"Take the medication, Trooper," he advised. "But remember that a cold pack works wonders on a bruised head as well. And next time, duck when the kitchen droids start throwing cans of blue milk."

Trooper 6137 nodded and rose to his feet, "Yes, sir."

The man turned and strode out the door, even as Sert entered data into the 'puter.

When he turned back to the door, he started noticeably. His lord's son, Luke Skywalker, was standing a meter inside the office.

The youth was quiet on his feet, unlike his lumbering giant of a father.

"Sir?" Sert said, recovering quickly.

The youth raised an eyebrow, "You can call me Luke, if you like. I'm not an Imperial officer."

A look of horror briefly contorted the doctor's face. No way was he calling _Darth Vader's son_ by his first name ...

"Or Skywalker, if you like," the boy amended peaceably, "Or Commander. I used to be a commander in the Alliance. Maybe still am? I need to holo my sister soon but I decided I needed to talk to you first."

Sert took a few deep breaths to calm himself. To be on the radar scope of Darth Vader and his Rebel son was not in any way a positive development.

"What can I do for you, Commander," he asked once he felt his nerves were under control.

Skywalker gazed at him thoughtfully, then walked over and dropped casually down on a chair. He fixed his blue eyes on Sert, his eyes intent.

"So, Doctor, my father is a mess. Physically, emotionally, psychologically, I would even say spiritually. I realize most of that isn't your area of expertise. However. I've read your file, with my father's permission. You are brilliant, compassionate, and courageous. I'm hoping you'd be willing to look at my father's medical file and see if something can be done to help him out. He seems convinced that nothing can be done medically but given that Palpatine put him in life support, and Palpatine was a lying, manipulative rancor, I'm hoping that he can be partially healed."

Sert stared at the youth for a long moment. 25% of his brain was excited. A cyborg Sith Lord for a patient? That would truly be interesting from a medical perspective.

Another 50% was frightened. A cyborg Sith Lord for a patient? Terrifying.

The last 25% was bewildered by Skywalker. He was nothing like his father. He was short, slim, and yes ...

"I know, I'm cute," Skywalker said unnervingly, a slight smile on his face.

Ok, maybe this youth did have a few things in common with his father, like mind reading.

"My mother was short, apparently," the boy continued. "Leia and I both inherited our height from her. At least my sister is even shorter than I am."

Doctor Sert pulled himself together, "I would need to speak directly to Lord Vader for permission before I studied his medical data, Commander."

A nod.

"Very reasonable, Doctor."

"And while I am, disdaining all false modesty, a brilliant medical doctor, I'm not a psychologist. I am concerned that any procedures to heal your father physically, while helpful, would pale in comparison to the ... mental struggles associated with his severe medical problems and any associated treatments."

Now Luke Skywalker looked worried.

"I agree, Doctor. I'm here for him but I'm his son, not a mind healer. And truthfully, he's ... well, it's a challenging situation. I wouldn't want him to strangle some poor soul trying to work on his psychological issues."

The doctor flinched slightly at this.

"Don't worry," the young man said, again unnervingly. "I'll insist on being there to help if he freaks out during any medical procedures."

"Thank you, Commander Skywalker," Sert responded genuinely.

/-

 _Darth Vader's hyperbaric chamber_

 _The_ Executor

 _In orbit around Zyggeria_

The droid's appendages reached out and carefully replaced Darth Vader's helmet on his head. The hyperbaric chamber slid open, and Vader rose to his feet and strode out into his main living quarters. Restlessly, he strode over to the transparisteel window and gazed at the stars.

" _I truly hate that helmet_ ," Anakin commented.

"It is necessary for survival," Vader responded sarcastically. "So unless you want to put an end to our miserable existence, you will refrain from complaining."

" _Perhaps Doctor Sert can help,"_ his Alter said brightly. " _I read his report. He's a very smart guy._ "

"Nothing can be done," Vader replied wearily. "I am reluctant to discourage Luke but I was there, as were you. We were burned beyond recognition, our organs seared, our bones weakened or destroyed. And my Master said ..."

" _You can't seriously trust anything Palpatine told you,"_ Anakin replied reasonably. _"The man lied to you about Padme's death, and about ..."_

"Do not mention her name!" Vader snarled.

A pause.

 _"You really need to work through your guilt about Padme,"_ Anakin said, surprisingly gently.

"And how do you propose I do that?" Vader demanded sardonically. "It is, as you know, a most painful subject. Any hapless psychologist would be rapidly thrown against a wall. I cannot talk to Luke about it, or the princess, because it was their mother I attacked as she carried them in her womb."

Not surprisingly, Anakin had nothing helpful to add to the conversation at this point.

Darth Vader sighed and closed his eyes. At least his children were alive and well. His son was with him. His health was terrible, yes. His guilt over his last interaction with Padme was agonizing. But things were better ...

A strange flash against his scarred eyelids caused him to open his eyes abruptly in surprise and concern. What ...?

He turned to his left, his eyes focusing even as his brain whirled incredulously.

"Hello, Anakin," the blue, slightly wavering form greeted him.

The scarred mouth opened, the pale lips formed words.

"Qui-Gon Jinn!"

 _Author Note: Many thanks for your kind words regarding my surgery. I am improving by the day. I am still very tired so the writing is slow but steady. I'm also surprised at how much harder it is to write with a tired brain. Interesting. Anyway, thanks for hanging in there on this story. And continued thanks to my wonderful husband who continues to shoulder the load here at home when I can't do a lot of stuff without being exhausted._


	9. Chapter 9

_Darth Vader's living quarters_

 _The_ Executor

 _In orbit around Zygerria_

"Impossible," Darth Vader stated out loud. Then, more angrily, "Impossible!"

It was the Sith who had discovered the secret of cheating death, not the Jedi!

"It does seem odd," Anakin chimed in. "You're dead, Qui-Gon Jinn. I saw your body burned up in a dramatic funeral pyre on Naboo. Which is, when you think about it, rather an unsettling experience for a 9 year old. Sometimes I wonder if the Jedi in the temple had ever been kids. They were so clueless sometimes."

Jinn's spectral eyes widened slightly, "I hadn't thought of that, Anakin. Not that I had any input since I was, as you said most accurately, dead."

"Anakin's emotional distress over a very minor incident is hardly of concern here," Vader said coldly. "How are you here, Jinn? No one is able to return from the dead."

The ghost's eyebrows rose and he stared at the cyborg for a long moment.

"To whom am I speaking?" he finally asked carefully. "Vader or Anakin?"

Vader huffed loudly enough for it to make an odd sound through the vocoder, "I am primarily in control of my vocal cords, but Anakin insists on providing his puerile input at times. I require an answer, Jinn. How are you here?"

The specter stared for a long moment, then ran a ghostly hand down his ghostly beard, "After falling to Darth Maul, I learned the secret of returning from death, Vader. And Anakin. So ... you're a binary personality? Most interesting."

"How could the Jedi have learned such a thing?" the Sith demanded, incensed.

"Can Padme come back as well?" Anakin inquired hopefully.

Darth Vader stiffened. He was an idiot. Anakin's question was far more pertinent. He was filled with guilt about his attack on Padme. Now it seemed clear that (as impossible as it seemed), individuals could return from death. So ...

He waited, eagerly.

Jinn slowly shook his head, "I'm sorry, Anakin. Padme, while an amazing individual, is not a Force Sensitive. She is unable to appear to you. But she is doing well, I promise you."

"How do you know that?" Vaderkin demanded.

Jinn looked surprised, "Well, I'm dead, so I can talk to her. I mean, we're here together. The Force Afterlife is a bit on the odd side, but I'm able to interact with a variety of people who have died."

"So can you translate for me?" Anavader asked intently.

"Translate?"

Anakin grew excited, "You know, can I talk to her through you? I mean, you can talk to both of us so you can relay dialogue back and forth. Right? I really want to talk to her. To apologize for what happened on Mustafar."

"Who am I speaking with now?" Jinn asked curiously.

"Anakin," Anakin said firmly. "But I'm partially responsible. I mean, I let Vader take over when he sided with that wretch Palpatine ..."

"He promised me power!" Vader roared.

"Moonglow of the Menarai," the specter said, shaking his head. "I really don't think this will work well at all. I have a binary personality Sith Lord talking in turns and Padme, well ..."

Jinn trailed off and abruptly looked to one side, "Erm, really. I don't think this is a good ..."

A pause.

"He's rather fragile emotionally right now, Padme. I don't think ..."

"Padme is with you?!" Vaderkin demanded hopefully.

Jinn was frowning, his eyes intently focused on the wall of the hyperbaric chamber.

"No, Padme," he said finally. "I cannot tell Anakin that."

Vader straightened his body indignantly, "I understand Padme's anger, Jinn. Tell me what she said, and do not concern yourself that my ego is too fragile to handle her words."

Jinn turned to look at him now, his expression exasperated.

"It is not that I am afraid to tell you what she is saying, I _can't_ say it. She's speaking in ... what is that, Huttese? How do you know Huttese? You're from Naboo, Padme."

Another pause.

"Well, I can imagine Anakin teaching you some interesting phrases," the apparition said, his face alight with amusement. "Nevertheless, if you have a message for Anakin/Vader, please couch it in Basic."

After a moment, he turned back to the nervous Sith.

"So Padme says, and I quote, 'I'm really mad at Anakin and we need to work through that, but right now I am concerned about the children. Are they safe and well?' unquote."

Vader relaxed slightly. At least he had good news in this area.

"Both children are well," he rumbled carefully. "Luke is with me and Leia is with the Rebel Alliance, but they are both healthy and strong and ... and amazing individuals. Luke is brave and handsome, and a phenomenal pilot, but with your kind heart and selfless nature. Leia is so much like you, Padme. Strong, beautiful, an amazing politician, commanding. Gorgeous. She takes after her mother in almost every way."

Jinn's eyes widened, "I never took you for a raving romantic, Anakin."

"Where Padme is concerned, I am the most insane romantic you could imagine," Anakin stated, firmly taking control of their joint vocal cords. "Vader has issues with that because he feels really guilty and he's been trying to forget Padme because of that guilt. He's a mess, really. And I'm a mess too because I've been trapped in a psychotic Sith Lord's body for 20 years. Things are better now that the twins have made their appearance on the galactic scene, but we need serious mind healing, and how do you mind heal a Sith Lord? And being a binary personality is complicated too. Any suggestions?"

Jinn stared at him for a long moment and then his mouth widened into a smile.

"I'm sure I can provide some guidance," he said firmly.

/-

 _The_ Millennium Falcon

 _In a Random Cave_

 _Tatooine_

 _250 kilometers from Anchorhead_

 _1 week later_

"A ghost?" Leia Organa demanded, her left eyebrow lifted to the perfect position to convey disbelief. "Really?"

"Really," her brother assured across the innumerable parsecs of space. "I know what you are thinking – it's bad enough the man has a binary personality, and now he's seeing things. But actually, I've seen the ghost too. His name is Qui-Gon Jinn and he was killed by a Sith Lord the year our father was 9 and our mother was 14. I haven't talked to him because we've been busy and I have trouble hearing him. It's like a transmission that goes in and out. Father says I'll be able to understand him as I train more."

"Which is another area of concern, Luke," Leia said firmly, even as she reached over to pick up a bowl of blue milk pudding. She shoved a bite in her mouth, swallowed, then continued. "Can you really trust ... I guess Vader, to let the Anakin side train you in the Light? Are you sure he's not tricking you into using the Dark Side?"

Her brother shook his head in the holoscreen and leaned back, "It's not the Dark Side, Leia. It's all about peace and love and commitment and calm. It's ... it's really wonderful. I realize I've tapped into the Force for a long time, every time I fly for example, but I'm learning to control it. Father is going to be having a medical operation soon so we'll be taking a break from direct training, but I've learned some Jedi katas to improve my lightsaber combat skills, and I'm managing to levitate a few things. Lame things, like spoons, but it's a start."

"Hey, you never know when you might be sitting in front of a wonderful holodrama like _Tatooine Days, Hoth Nights_ , and want a spoon without having to get up," her sister responded with a smirk.

"Right! Because Tritia Skylarn is so awesome in that. I mean really, it is totally practical to waltz around in the midday Tatooine heat in a metal bikini. She'd be fried in 2 minutes ... or at least the more sensitive parts would be ..." Luke trailed off even as he looked to his right. He frowned, then nodded, "Ok, Doctor Sert. I'm coming."

He turned back to his sister, "I have to go, Leia. Stay safe. May the Force be with you."

"And with you," she responded gravely. The holoscreen went black. Leia stared at it for a long moment, then she rose to her feet and marched into the main cabin of the _Falcon._

Han was (of course) tinkering with something involving lots of wiring interspersed with angry blinking red lights.

Leia frowned a little, "It's hot in here."

The pirate groaned aloud, "Cooling systems are down in this part of the ship."

The princess bit back a negative comment about the _Falcon_ and her endless proclivity toward breaking down.

"That's not great on Tatooine," she said in a neutral tone.

"Well, we're in a cave, which helps, and the suns are setting, which helps more. We'll be Ok for the night and I'll have her fixed up by tomorrow. So how's the Kid?"

"He's fine," Leia assured him, walking over to the tool box and finding a meter to assist Solo. "Fine. I'm uneasy, of course, but Vader is treating him well. Or Anakin. Both?"

Solo relaxed, "Good. So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

The princess checked one of the blinking red lights even as she asked casually, "Han, what is Jabba the Hutt like?"

The dashing eyebrows rose slightly, "Hmmm, very Hutt-ish. Selfish, cruel, egotistical, narcissistic, short tempered ... but mostly cruel. And rich. Very rich."

Leia turned to face him, "Not a great employer, then."

The Corellian sighed, "No. But I needed money, and he pays pretty well. 'Course now that I have a gigantic bounty on my head, the decision to work for him doesn't feel as good."

The woman tilted her head to one side, "I know the answer to this, but I'll ask anyway. You don't see any ... moral problem with assassinating Jabba, do you?"

Han Solo stared at her blankly for a full 30 seconds before shaking his head, "That is incredibly dangerous, Leia. Moral problem, no, of course not. But I think it's impossible. He's smart. There are sentients from dozens of species across the galaxy who'd love to take him down, but his security detail is tight. Of course, a dead Jabba is a good Jabba, but I don't think he can be assassinated."

Leia's devilish smile inspired more fear than confidence, "I have a few ideas up my sleeve, Han. To start with, let's talk about Jabba's habits ..."

/-

 _Intensive Care Medical Bay #3_

 _The_ Executor

 _In orbit around Zyggeria_

 _2 hours later_

Doctor Lenz Sert took a deep breath and looked down onto his masked superior.

"My lord, do I have your permission to proceed?"

"Proceed," the bass voice intoned.

Was there any fear in that voice, Sert wondered? This was a risky operation and Vader had to know that. It was, the doctor knew, a tremendous sign of trust that Vader was allowing him, a human sentient, to perform an operation. Droids could be programmed. Humans could be bribed or turned.

Sert nodded and glanced at Luke Skywalker, who was standing across the operating table from him. The young man was holding the Sith Lord's left hand, and was gazing straight into his father's helmet.

Father and son had spoken confidently, but obscurely, about some kind of weird "Force bond" which would help the Sith maintain stability during the operation. This was way out of Sert's medical experience and it added to his anxiety about this operation, but if Vader thought it would help him, no doubt it would.

Doctor Sert typed in the last instructions to the medical droids, then pushed the anesthesia into one of the Dark Lord's pathetic but vaguely functional veins.

First step, Vader's frankly disastrous lungs.

/-

Darth Vader lost consciousness.

And then he woke up.

Where ... was he?

He was standing in a hall, a hall that looked strangely familiar. There was a painting to his right, one of a lake with hovercraft dashing vigorously across it.

He remembered this painting.

This was Varykino, the Naberrie family estate on Naboo. The estate where he and Padme had acted on their forbidden love and married one another, under the tree on the terrace, with the waters of the lake reflecting the sun in all its glory. Padme had been so beautiful that day. She had always been so beautiful.

What was he doing here?

He heard voices to his right. His feet moved without volition toward the sound, the voices becoming louder until he could hear words.

"Mom was amazing. In the midst of slavery and difficulty she sacrificed and worked to give me the best life possible. And then she let me go with you ..."

Vader slowly entered the room, a sitting room where he and Padme had spent many happy hours together.

The tan gorraslug leather couch was occupied, not with his beloved wife, but with his long limbed alter, Anakin Skywalker. The 20 something year old human was lying on his back, hands clutching what appeared to be a shaak plushie, his head resting on a beige pillow. Sitting on a chair nearby, legs crossed, chin in hand, was Qui-Gon Jinn. Except that now the specter was as corporeal as the Sith himself.

"What is this?" Vader demanded imperiously.

"Therapy session, Vader," Jinn said with a welcoming smile. "Please, sit down."


	10. Chapter 10

_Varykino_

 _Naboo_

 _(Sort of. Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker dream state)_

 _With Qui-Gon Jinn along for the ride._

"This is absurd," Vader announced uneasily.

It was absurd. His Alter with a body? Jinn looking normal, not blue and ethereal?

"You're unconscious because the good doctor is conducting surgery," Jinn explained briskly. "Obviously your subconscious has decided to whisk the two parts of yourself - you and Anakin - to Varykino on Naboo. And since you are both here and can talk aloud with me, I hope we can make some real progress in working towards some kind of integration."

Anakin sat up with a youthful grin that was painfully like Luke's, "Would you like a plushie, Vader? Plushies really are comforting."

He gestured with his right hand (which was mechanical) and a group of plushies suddenly floated into the air. There was a colo claw plushie, a starbird, a bantha, a nerf, a Gungan, and ...

"How about the rancor?" Anakin continued in a sunny tone. "That seems appropriate for a psychotic Sith Lord."

Vader ground his teeth even as he made an about face, "This is ridiculous. I am leaving."

"You can do that," Jinn said agreeably. "But until you come out of surgery you're going to be unconscious anyway. You can of course wander the halls of Varykino mourning the past, but you might as well do something useful."

The Sith froze a step from the door, then turned around.

"Jinn, this is pointless. I hate Anakin. I am certain he hates me. Even if ... even if we wanted to integrate, I hardly think it possible."

Jinn frowned, gestured towards a holopad which hurled itself obediently into his hand, and then wrote something down.

"Why do you hate Anakin, Vader?" he asked gently.

Vader glared at his Alter, who was looking woebegone, "He let our mother die."

Anakin looked down at the green and blue Wrodian carpet, his eyes suddenly shining, "He's right, I did."

Jinn turned to focus his attention on the younger man, "Because you had visions of her death, and didn't reach her in time, Anakin?"

Anakin leaped up now and strode over to the window, where he stood staring outside, his hands clenching around the shaak plush, "Yes."

"Anakin," Jinn said patiently. And waited.

The younger man turned around, slowly.

"Anakin, while your mother Shmi was in danger on Tatooine, what were you doing?"

The clear blue eyes narrowed in bewilderment, "I was protecting Padme."

"Why?" the Jedi continued. "Because you already were in love with her and wanted to spend time with her?"

Anakin's head shook slowly, "No, of course not. I mean, yes, I loved her already. But she was in great danger! One of her decoys had been killed in an assassination attempt and Obi-Wan and I foiled another attempt in her own chambers on Coruscant. The Separatists wanted her dead."

"Why were you protecting her?" Jinn asked. "Why not someone else?"

Skywalker looked puzzled, "The Jedi Council ordered me to. It was my task."

Jinn nodded and leaned back, stroking his beard with his left hand, "So if you had run off to save your mother, what would have happened to Padme?"

There was a long pause as both versions of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader stared at the older Jedi.

"Someone ... someone else ... could have ... protected her ...," Anakin finally stuttered.

"Padme could have come with Anakin to Tatooine," Vader pointed out coldly. "She proved herself entirely willing to do so later."

Jinn turned his attention on the Sith, "Very well. Anakin could have taken Padme with him to Tatooine. Or not. If he had left Padme behind, she might have died at the hands of another assassin. If he had taken Padme to Tatooine earlier, you don't know what would have happened. She was in danger and I presume he left her unguarded when he went off to find his mother. Remember that the Separatists wanted her dead."

Qui-Gon turned back to the unarmored man, "You were in a difficult position, Anakin."

The youth gazed back in bewilderment and anger, "So you are saying I should have let my mother die?!"

Jinn sighed and shook his head, "I'm saying ... Anakin, I'm saying that even you, with all your gifts, are not all powerful. You had limits at age 19 and ..."

He turned now to look at Vader, "... you have limits in your 40's. You may think you are responsible for saving the people you love, but the reality is that even with all your abilities, that will not always be possible."

Again, Jinn's piercing gaze was turned on Anakin, "Did you tell your master of your dreams about your mother?"

Anakin sat back down on the couch, his hands squeezing the shaak plush mercilessly, "Yes. I did. Back on Coruscant. Obi-Wan told me they ... they were meaningless. He didn't believe she was in trouble."

Jinn nodded again, "So you were told by your master to ignore your dreams, and were tasked instead to protect the woman you loved. Why are you at fault for your mother's death?"

"He should have saved her," Vader said coldly. "He failed."

"You need to forgive yourself, Vader," Jinn returned, gently.

"It is not my fault that she died," Vader roared in anguish. "It is his! He is the weak one. He is the one who failed our mother. He ..."

Anakin leaped to his feet now, hurling his hapless plushie to the side in his agitation.

"I failed? I failed? I was too late to save Mom, yes. But I didn't murder my mother as you _murdered Padme_!"

"Do not say such a thing," Vader roared stepping forward.

The younger version of himself lifted his hands and thrust them against the Sith's armored chest, pushing him back a few centimeters, "Why not? Because you can't handle the truth? Because you can't acknowledge that as a Sith, you destroyed the woman who loved you, you attacked the woman who carried your children, resulting in her death ..."

"Do not ..." Vader snarled even louder. Around them, the room began to shake and shimmer.

"Anakin! Vader!" Jinn yelled loudly, leaping to his feet. "STOP THIS!"

For unknown reasons, Vader did stop. He felt a sudden, alien, and sad calm spread over him. From ... from Anakin? Because Anakin was connected to him, was part of him? It didn't make sense ...

His ruminations were cut short as Anakin turned now, his expression grief stricken, towards the other Jedi.

"It's true, Qui-Gon. Vader killed Padme. And I will always hate and loathe and despise him for that, even as he hates and loathes and despises himself."

Jinn stared first at Anakin, then at Vader, then shook his head slowly, "Er, that's not what happened. You didn't kill Padme, Vader. Where did you get that idea?"

The Dark Lord stared at him incredulously, his mind whirling.

"Sidious told me that, in my anger, I killed her."

Now Qui-Gon rolled his eyes, "Are you seriously going to trust the words of that vile viper? You attacked Padme but that didn't cause her death. I know that."

Anakin turned now and stepped close to Jinn, "You _can't_ know that. You weren't there."

"I was," another voice said from the door. "And Jinn is right, you did not cause Padme's death."

Both cyborg and young Jedi froze in surprise, "Obi-Wan!"

Kenobi glanced first at Vader, then focused an amazed look on Anakin Skywalker, "Please sit down."

Again, a quick glance at Vader, "You too, Vader. Both of you need to know what really happened when the twins were born."

/-

 _Intensive Care Medical Bay #3_

 _The_ Executor

 _In orbit around Zyggeria_

"Father?" Luke asked softly, squeezing his sire's prosthetic hand gently. "The surgery went well. Everything is Ok."

The pale lips moved behind the oxygen mask, "I didn't ... I didn't ..."

"Didn't what, Father?" Luke asked worriedly.

The _blue_ eyes opened, the gaze fixed with an otherworldly mien, "I didn't kill her ..."

/

 _Main kitchens_

 _Jabba the Hutt's Palace_

 _Tatooine_

 _3 weeks later_

"Welcome, Lady ...?" Bib Fortuna said in Basic to the human woman. He stared at her with hooded eyes, somewhat surprised. The woman's hair was white but her face was unlined, her blue eyes bright with youth and vigor, making her age somewhat difficult to guess.

"Many thanks, most noble Fortuna," the woman replied politely, her eyes scanning the kitchen and its accouterments. She looked now at the Twi'lek, her face twisting slightly, "But I am no lady. Please call me Marne."

Marne walked over to a cooled storage facility and nodded now, her face relieved, "You have adequate facilities, Noble One. My mistress will be satisfied."

There was a tone in the woman's voice that Fortuna recognized, and he allowed himself a soft laugh, "I'm confident it is most important that she be satisfied."

Marne allowed herself a dramatic roll of the eyes, "The Lady Alana is truly the most amazing soprano of her generation, but she has rather stringent requirements about _everything_. I feel certain you do indeed understand, Bib Fortuna, as you have served Jabba well these many years."

"He is truly honored that Lady Alana will sing for him tomorrow."

There was an odd inflection to Fortuna's statement, and Marne straightened to gaze up into his face a long moment.

The young woman smiled a little now, acknowledging the Twi'lek's curiosity. In an environment like Jabba's palace, where every day could be one's last, knowledge was power.

"The Lady Alana is ... sponsored ... by one of the major players on Imperial Center, Noble Fortuna. And he ... or she, perhaps ... is eager to forge political ties to the Hutt clans. This is an important first step, so to speak."

The Twi'lek nodded, satisfied. This made sense. He would seek further information about the name of this sponsor at a later time.

Marne opened up the top of a water tank filled with Klatooine paddy frogs and frowned down into its rather murky depths.

"I need one of these," she announced firmly. "My mistress demands Belsavis frogs at every meal now. It's her current addiction."

Fortuna's eyebrows lifted incredulously, "Belsavis frogs?"

Marne groaned aloud, "Lightly killed, fried, and dipped in chocolate. It is truly bizarre but what the Lady Alana wants, she receives. I think them most unpalatable myself, but she adores them ... she says they have an exquisite crunch. The tank with the frogs will arrive two hours before tomorrow's banquet, and our chef droid will prepare them."

Fortuna stared at her, his mind working furiously. Jabba would not be pleased if another sentient enjoyed a delectable dish involving frogs.

"The Great Jabba will wish to eat the frogs also," he said firmly.

Marne looked astonished, "He will? I understood ... pardon me, I understood that the Great Jabba preferred ... er ... less cooked meals."

Fortuna sighed, "But of course, Marne. He will not want them cooked and covered with chocolate. How revolting. Really, these rich humans. Pardon, no offense intended."

"Or taken," Marne said with a sunny smile. "In this arena I entirely agree. Her previous passion was Nabooian crab, which is expensive but at least somewhat normal. Chocolate covered frogs? Ugh!"

"The Mighty Jabba will want them raw. But trust me, young Marne; it would not be well for you or your mistress if the great Jabba were not allowed to sample this delicacy from Belsavis."

Marne frowned, "I only have enough to satisfy my mistress."

"Then I suggest you acquire more, Mistress Marne," Fortuna said with what he thought was a sarcastic inflection. His Basic was good but not stellar, and sarcasm was difficult for him.

The woman looked worried now and she gazed off into the distance, obviously thinking.

"I can ... I can manage it. Thank you, Noble Fortuna, for this information. It is important for me, for many reasons, that this banquet go well."

The Twi'lek relaxed, pleased, "Excellent, Marne. Tomorrow morning your mistress will sing for the Mighty Jabba, then they will dine together, and we will both have performed our jobs to our masters' satisfaction."

The white haired woman nodded, "Indeed. Until tomorrow, Noble Fortuna."

/-

 _The_ Hylerion

 _In hyperspace_

 _En route to Hoth_

 _1 day later_

"Here," Winter Retrac said, handing over a glass to the Lady Alana. "Drink this."

Alana groaned aloud but took a cautious sip, then a firm gulp, then nodded in relief, "That's good."

"Of course, it is. Fresh Juna berries pulverized and mixed with ice."

The dark haired soprano leaned back in her seat and sighed, "You will forgive me if I struggle with trusting you about things I eat and drink, dear friend. Chocolate covered frogs? Really? That is so disgusting! The things I do for you!"

"The things you do for the Alliance," Winter responded gently, "and for our lost home world of Alderaan."

Alana nodded, her face serious now, as she took another gulp of the juice, "I do hope it works. If I'm going to eat something that incredibly nasty and disgusting and loathsome, it had better be worth it."

Winter smiled rather viciously, "It worked, Alana. Even the metric tons of Jabba the Hutt can't handle the poison capsules we placed in his fresh frogs. He'll be dead within the week."

 _Author Note: Winter is from Alderaan, as is the Lady Alana (Alana is an OC.) Both are working for the Rebel Alliance though the galaxy doesn't know the famous singer Alana is an undercover Rebel, or that she is from Alderaan. Winter is the adopted sister of Leia Organa._

 _Re the "lightly killed chocolate frogs", my husband tells me of a Monte Python skit with that topic. Ha._


	11. Chapter 11

_Corridor outside Darth Vader's private chambers_

 _The_ Executor

 _In orbit around Zygerria_

 _A standard week later_

"Given the instability in that region of the galaxy, the currently unexplained death of Jabba the Hutt is considered vitally important by our primary analysts," Admiral Piett reported. "With Isard's push for power on Imperial Center, it seems likely she is at the center of the Hutt's death and plausible that she is planning an offensive strike into the Outer Rim regions near Tatooine."

Darth Vader considered for a long moment, then nodded, "I agree, Admiral. Tatooine is a wasteland but her position on the Outer Rim is strategic, especially given the near locale of Naboo, Palpatine's homeworld. She may wish to take control of the region in order to bolster her attempts to be crowned Empress. Keep me informed, and prepare the third fleet for immediate departure. If Isard is moving, we will counter."

"Yes, my lord."

Vader turned, opened the door to his chambers with the Force, and strode in. The door slid shut behind him as he walked into a small office where two voices were in energetic discussion.

Luke looked up as he entered, his face widening into a smile, "Great! You're here. See, Doctor Sert ..."

The youth gestured at the image on the holoscreen and then walked over to his father, "Obviously the lungs need more work, and if Father gets more oxygen with every breath it will reduce the strain on his body even more ..."

"But with all due respect, Commander," Sert responded, "the reality of digestive issues ... pardon me, my lord ... mean that Lord Vader is unable to gain much nutritional value from the food he is ingesting and that is limiting his ability to self heal ..."

"But lungs ...," Luke said, then huffed aloud, "I can sense his lungs better than his digestive tract. I'm not saying we should just go with easy, but I can work better with you on the lungs right now. I'm studying those medical manuals you gave me and I think with a bit more work, I can really help you with digestion more in ... probably in a few days. But lungs. I just get the lungs, if you know what I mean."

Sert frowned and walked over to the holoscreen which, Anakin noted with an uneasy eye, was now scrolling through a series of unnerving scans of his own disaster of a body.

"I _don't_ understand, Commander, as I am not a Force Sensitive," the good doctor said slowly, even as he turned back to stare at the young man. "But without a doubt, you are performing miracles on Lord Vader's physical state. My medical expertise is considerable, but your father's improvement defies medical wisdom or experience. So by all means, let us proceed with further work on the lungs."

"Do I have any input in this decision?" Anakin asked curiously.

Sert looked alarmed, but Luke laughed, "No, Father, you don't. You are just our medical experiment."

The doctor now looked horrified, but Anakin merely chuckled through his vocoder and placed an affectionate hand on his son's slim shoulder, "Very well, I am delighted to be your experiment given how much better I am doing. I am grateful to you both. I will, regrettably, be unavailable for the next two days. Unexpectedly, the Hutt crime lord on Tatooine sickened and died this week and Isard may well be behind it ..."

"Actually, he was poisoned during an Alliance operation," Luke interrupted with a cheerful smile. "The Rebellion is planning to move into the region shortly, so it would be best if you didn't interfere."

Anakin blinked for a long moment, then shook his head, "The Rebellion killed Jabba?"

"Uh huh, by manipulating him into eating frogs with poisoned capsules in their stomachs," Luke said firmly, then lifted his eyebrows. "He wasn't ... er ... an ally of yours was he? I thought you disliked the Hutts."

"I hated and despised Jabba, certainly," his father replied. "His death is a blessing to Tatooine and the surrounding environs. I hope your sister is keeping herself safe, however. It dismays me to consider she might be on Tatooine mixing it up with the Hutts."

Luke grinned a little, "No, she's not going to Tatooine, she's coming here. Like, in three days. To talk strategy with you. So anything medical needs to happen now, not later, Father."

Anakin had missed most of his son's words, "The princess is coming here?"

Luke nodded again, his smile fading as his expression grew serious, "I convinced her she'd be safe. She will be safe, right?"

"If anyone so much as touches a hair on her head, I will personally rip his body to pieces and feed his entrails to the dianogas in the trash compactors," Darth Vader vowed.

His son winced openly, "I didn't really need that mental image, but I get the picture. She may yell at you, so be prepared."

Vader went from righteously protective to subdued in a moment.

"She has every reason to hate me, Luke. If all she does is snarl at me, I will be surprised."

/-

 _Docking Bay #4_

 _The_ Executor

 _In orbit around Zyggeria_

 _3 days later_

"How is that ship still functional?" Admiral Piett demanded of his lord's son.

"Han says she's got it where it counts," Skywalker responded with an amused grin. "I'd say he's right about that too. The air of general decrepitude is just a cover. She's really an awesome ship."

The ramp had been lowering during this inspiring speech, and Admiral Firmus Piett heard Princess Leia's voice before he saw her. She sounded ... displeased.

"We're lucky we didn't end up in a supernova or stranded out in the Far Outer Regions, Han," she complained. "Of all the things to go wrong with this heap of junk, the hyperdrive failed? The hyperdrive?"

The woman was in sight now, with the tall, rangy Corellian following a step behind.

"It didn't exactly fail, your Highness," he huffed indignantly. "We got here."

"Threepio said that the motivator was sparking, literally sparking ..."

The girl stopped speaking now and ran forward to throw herself into Skywalker's arms, "Luke!"

"Leia! Han! Chewie!"

Belatedly, Piett noted the appearance of a very tall Wookiee, the mighty Chewbacca, no doubt. It was obvious that he was a close friend to the young Skywalker as well.

Moons of Corellia, the Wookiee was even taller than Darth Vader.

Since the Rebels and Luke Skywalker were greeting one another with gratuitous hugs, Piett allowed himself the luxury of staring at the small group. He was, truth be told, quite astonished at how truly gorgeous Leia Organa was. What a beauty!

And she definitely didn't look like her twin brother. The genetics involved in the union of Darth Vader with the children's mother were far ranging as far as appearances went.

To his dismay, Skywalker abruptly broke free from his embraces and turned a curious gaze on Piett, which reminded the admiral that Luke Skywalker was _Darth Vader's son_ and growing in his _Force abilities_ which meant he might be able to _read minds_ and that wasn't a _good thing_...

"Admiral Piett," he said with a lurking smile, "please let me introduce you to Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Chewbacca."

"It is my honor to meet you," Piett said diplomatically.

The princess looked at her twin and raised one eyebrow delicately.

Skywalker responded promptly, "Yes, the Admiral knows we are Anakin's twin children, as does the doctor treating Father. Other than that, a few select individuals know about me, but not you."

Organa stared at Piett for a moment, then a longer moment, until the admiral began focusing on his breathing. That stare was thoroughly unnerving and reminded him all too well of her father's glare before he began choking someone.

The woman finally broke away her basilisk gaze and turned to her brother, nodding, "Very well. So where is he?"

"In some boring command meeting," Skywalker responded. "The Admiral will take us to your quarters and later, if you are willing, we'll have a discussion about the state of the galaxy in general and the family in particular.

"Lead the way," she said.

Piett bowed slightly and turned to lead the small party out of the hanger. Surreptitiously, he lifted a hand to loosen his collar slightly.

Whew. The princess was scary. And the Wookiee was scary. In his own way, Skywalker was scary. Probably Solo was scary.

For the first time in his life, it occurred to Piett to hope that Lord Vader knew what he was doing.

/-

 _Darth Vader's private office_

 _2 hours later_

He sensed her coming long before she arrived.

Padme's daughter. The last princess of Alderaan.

Dread filled his heart as she approached. He had tortured her. Murdered her friends and compatriots. Destroyed her planet. How did they come back from this? He didn't expect ... forgiveness, but would she even talk to him? Strategize with him? Stay ... safe for him?

The door slid open and Luke stepped into the room. His eyes met his father's, and the young man's gaze was both sympathetic and reassuring.

Anakin Skywalker took a deep breath. Regardless of what did or did not happen with Leia, Luke had made it clear that he cared for his sire. That was more than Darth Vader had hoped for in the last 20 plus years, ever since he'd risen from his bed of agony and been told by Sidious that his wife and child were dead at his own hand.

Leia Organa stepped through the door behind her brother. She was dressed in the white robes of a princess of Alderaan, and her face was as determined, her posture as regal, as her mother's had been in the days of Padme Amidala's rule as queen of Naboo.

Anakin took a stuttering breath through the oxygen mask around his mouth and nose, even as he remained motionless. He remained seated, wishing to appear as ... well, harmless wasn't possible, not for Darth Vader. As unmenacing as possible. That was also why he had chosen to remove his mask and allow his daughter to see him as he truly was. Burned, scarred, broken, old before his time.

Organa approached still closer, her eyes nearly level with his own even though he was seated. She was so tiny.

Like her mother.

Behind his daughter was the Corellian pilot Solo, who had shot Vader off Luke's back over the Death Star. Behind them both was the giant Wookiee, Chewbacca.

The princess gazed straight into his face, which was exposed in all its charred glory.

"Stars and galaxies," she said after a moment, "you really are a mess."

Anakin was torn between embarrassment and relief that his daughter was at least talking to him (as opposed to leaping on him and trying to rip his throat open.)

"This is actually a significant medical improvement, Princess," he said carefully.

"So Luke tells me," she responded. Her Force sense was muted by her remarkable shielding, but he sensed a dim mixture of horror, curiosity, and a strange twist of anticipation.

"Lord Vader, I would prefer to discuss political issues first, and our family ... concerns at a later time," she said. "I assume you are aware that Ysanne Isard is working toward being crowned Empress in the next few weeks?"

Anakin nodded slightly, "Yes. It is not surprising to me. She has long been extremely ambitious. She was completely loyal to Palpatine but now that he is dead ..."

"Thanks to you," Luke chimed in.

His father smiled slightly at his son before continuing, "Indeed. It was natural that she would attempt to reign in Palpatine's stead. She no doubt wishes to continue to rule much like he did, to continue the legacy of Darth Sidious."

The princess stared for another moment, then turned and walked over to the transparisteel window through which shown the stars of deep space.

"She is not a Force sensitive, correct?"

"No," Anakin assured her.

She turned now, her face sorrowful, "We are hearing reports of rampant brutality to a level that, apart from the destruction of Alderaan, seems excessive even for the Empire. The bombardment of planets in the Core, sometimes because of the careless words of a high level official about Isard's leadership. Imperial Center is under martial law, famine is spreading due to a blockade due to her fear of invasion, and her citizens are suffering greatly."

"She is afraid," Anakin replied simply. "She is not the Heir Apparent to the Imperial Crown. I am. She is brutally subjugating all possible dissension because she knows that her control on the Core Fragment of the Empire is fragile."

"She needs to be stopped," Leia said flatly. "Soon. Many more will die if she is indeed crowned Empress and is allowed to reign over the Core unchecked."

Vader stood now, shaking his head slowly, "It will be difficult. We have reports that she is hidden away in private quarters much of the time, that she is utilizing decoys, that she has kill switches set to destroy much of Imperial City if she is attacked."

Leia walked close to him now, raising her eyes to meet his, "I know. We have a plan to bring her down. But we need your help."

He hesitated briefly, then nodded, "I assure you I will assist you in any way possible, Princess."

To his surprise, both Solo and his son chuckled softly.

"I hope you are still willing to assist when Leia gives you details of the plan, Father," Skywalker said with a grin.

/-

 _Imperial Holonet Studio_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _4 weeks later_

Relinka Spetzv gazed into the mirror in her preparation room and spoke into it, "This is just an interview, Relinka. Just an interview. Don't behave like a fangirl. You will be professional. You will be cool and collected. It's just Lady Alana, the most famous, most amazing singer in the entire galaxy."

In spite of herself, she squealed aloud, then shook her head in frustration. This was never going to work if she didn't get control of herself.

She took a breath, straightened her shoulders, and marched out of her room and out onto the stage. It was backlit with soft, warm light, and the stage itself was something that Relinka fondly hoped looked like the bottom of an ocean. With air. And light. And comfortable chairs. The Lady Alana's favorite colors were purportedly greens and blues, and Relinka hoped the singer would appreciate the effort the official Imperial Network was making to ensure the singer was happy. The Holonet host had even dyed her hair aquamarine for the occasion, which was not her favorite look.

For a brief moment, trepidation overwhelmed Relinka's nervous delight. Not only was Lady Alana coming for an interview, but later tonight (after Ysanne Isard was crowned Empress at an impressive but no doubt dull ceremony) the singer would be performing a brand new song about the new Empress. Relinka Spetzv had only interacted with Isard a few times and she was a frightening personage. The new Empress was also a big fan of Lady Alana, and Relinka had better handle this interview well.

"You all ready, Relinka?" her producer asked.

Relinka plastered on her famous smile.

"Absolutely."

/-

 _Author Note: I obviously switched back and forth between calling Anivader "Anakin" and "Vader". He has largely integrated now but sometimes he is more one than the other. Truth is, Anakin had his own issues and Vader, with his vast experience with politics, is more equipped to handle some of the intergalactic insanity than Anakin is._


	12. Chapter 12

_Imperial Holonet Studio_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _30 minutes later_

The door slid open and Lada Alana sashayed through the door.

Relinka felt her breath catch in her throat. The woman was exquisite. She was amazing. She was wearing a long blue-green dress with elbow length sleeves, and the skirt floated, actually floated, above her ankles, no doubt due to the presence of tiny microfloaters in the fabric. Last, but not least, was the frog attached to the front of her bodice.

A big frog, though thankfully not a _real_ frog. It was ... it was a frog plushie attached to the front of her green and blue dress.

Relinka shook her head in awe. That she should have the honor of being here on this most amazing day.

"Lady Alana," she gushed, stepping forward enthusiastically, simultaneously curtseying and bowing, which was an unfortunate combination. "What an incredible honor this is!"

The singer smiled and shook her black tresses, her scarlet mouth widening graciously, "It is truly my privilege to be here as well, Host Spetzv."

"Relinka, please," Relinka said with an ingratiating smirk.

"As you wish. May I introduce my assistant, Marne? She ...," the singer laughed aloud, her hand lifted coquettishly to her mouth, "she keeps me in order, so to speak. I'm afraid that organization is not my strong point, is it, Marnie?"

The woman at her side was like a pale moth compared to the glorious Lady Alana - dressed in a business-like gray dress, her make-up subdued, her hair a strange white. But her smile seemed genuine enough.

"You are a great artist, my lady Alana," she said simply. "It is my privilege to serve you."

"Well, please, sit down," Relinka said, gesturing to the two chairs across from her own. She waited until both guests were seated before sinking carefully into her own. She was careful to keep her head turned 15 degrees so that she wasn't quite in profile to the holocam. She had been told by more than one individual that she looked 2.5 years older in direct profile.

"First of all, Lady Alana," she began her interview, "I want to say that I love your dress and I love chocolate covered frogs!"

Her guest's eyes widened and there was a brief flash of something that looked like distress. Then the singer smiled a little, though it seemed forced.

"I'm so glad, Relinka," she said in her carefully modulated tone. "I too adore frogs, obviously, though I am startled that chocolate covered frogs are the new local rage here on Imperial Center. They ... er ... have a rather distinctive taste."

"A sophisticated taste," Spetzv responded firmly.

She found them completely revolting, actually, but of course she wouldn't say that.

"The Menarai here on Imperial Center is the most upscale restaurant in the galaxy, and they are consistently selling out of chocolate covered frogs," Relinka continued determinedly. "Otherwise, I would have them as often as possible but unfortunately they are proving difficult to find. You will be glad to know, however, that we've arranged for chocolate covered frogs for dessert after our interview."

Alana actually seemed to pale slightly and glanced briefly at Marne, who had been thus far silent.

"If I may ... Host Spetzv," the woman said carefully. "I fear that the frog situation is of concern now for the Lady Alana because of environmental concerns."

"Environmental concerns?" Relinka asked, puzzled.

"Yes," Marne replied smoothly. "The Lady Alana had no idea the frogs would become so popular, and we have learned from sources that the number of Belsavis frogs is being depleted rapidly. Sustainability is so important!"

"Yes," Lady Alana piped up enthusiastically, her teeth bared in a rather unnerving grin, "I am an artist first and foremost, but I also care deeply for the environments of all planets and moons in this great and far flung galaxy. So I am pledging myself to limit the number of chocolate covered frogs I eat to very rare occasions. I will celebrate them with fashion through the garments I wear as opposed to indulging in their culinary ... er ..."

"Delights ..." Marne finished firmly.

"Yes, delights," Alana agreed with a grimace.

"How wonderful that you care so deeply about responsibly sustaining the populations of ... frogs," Relinka responded with a grateful smile. Hopefully she'd never feel obligated to eat another frog.

"And now, onto the other things," Relinka continued enthusiastically. "What can you tell us about the Mystery Dancer?"

There was a long pause while Lady Alana and Marne exchanged a long look.

"Nothing, I'm afraid," Marne stated at last. "For contractual and cultural reasons, we cannot reveal anything about the ... individual."

Relinka pounced, "Individual? So you aren't even willing to state whether the dancer is male or female?"

Lady Alana shook her head with determination, "No, I'm afraid not, Relinka. The Mystery Dancer, as you describe ... it, is one of the most gifted, deeply souled individuals I've ever had the privilege to work with in all my years in the arts. But due to ... cultural issues, his or her identity must remain unknown."

A blaze of curiosity flared up in Relinka's mind, "But my dear Lady Alana, the entire galaxy wants to know! Those moves, that grace, that strength! Is it true that he ... or she ... or it, actually lifted all four of those dancers at once in the Tree of Life dance a week ago?"

Alana's eyes grew moist with enthusiasm, "Indeed, indeed, Relinka! But combined with that strength is such passion. And the artistry! I can reveal that the masks and costumes that the Mystery wears are designed by him or her or itself! I ... ", here a few tears dropped onto the Lady's cheeks, "I have never ever spent time with one so deeply immersed in the arts. The Mystery has made Art his or her _life_. There are no considerations of popularity or politics or practicality. All falls before creativity and commitment to Art. It inspires me, while also putting me to shame."

Relinka scooted forward a few centimeters, her own eyes growing bright with enthusiasm, "But the mask, my dear Lady Alana! Do you mean to say that the Unknown always wears a mask? Surely that is quite frustrating for an artist?"

"Not at all, my dear Relinka," Lady Alana responded gravely. "He says they're terribly comfortable, and he thinks that everyone will be wearing them in the future."

Relinka blinked at this extraordinary statement, but continued determinedly, "So you mean none of us will ever see the true face of the Unknown?"

"Never," Lady Alana stated clearly. "It is forbidden for all but near relatives to see the face of the Mystery."

"Unless, of course," Marne interpolated hastily, "the Empress Isard herself wished to see his or her or its face. We ... we would not wish to indicate that anything is barred from her Royal Highness. But our Sovereign Grace Isard has far more important things to consider than the visage of an unknown dancer."

"Yes, of course. We are most grateful to her Royal Highness for her enthusiasm and support of my performing," Alana agreed, "but she would hardly be interested in a dancer. So given that, the Unknown must remain Unknown."

Relinka's body drooped slightly in disappointment before she pulled herself together, "Very well, what can you tell me about the song you've composed for her most sovereign majesty ...?"

/-

 _Empress Ysanne Isard's private reception room_

 _Imperial Palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _6 hours later_

The newly crowned Empress Isard leaned back in her throne and rolled her neck from side to side in an attempt to release tension.

She wanted her footstool. It was all very well to look regal on a throne, but it had been a busy day/week/month/year/decade and she was tired and she wanted her exhausted feet up.

She keyed a quick command into her personal holopad and 67 seconds later, her trusted major domo rushed into the room and placed a bejeweled, krayt dragon leather footstool at her feet.

Ahhh ...

With a languid wave of one white hand, Isard dismissed the minion, who retreated promptly out of the room and went back, no doubt, to drinking celebratory Corellian brandies. This day was a triumph not just Isard, but for her servants and minions who had accompanied her on her meteoric rise to Empress.

For all that Isard had truly venerated Sheev Palpatine, she had to admit that being Empress was far more enjoyable than being head of security.

Really, she should give Vader a medal for killing their mutual master and then fleeing into the Outer Core, leaving Imperial Center and the Core Worlds to Isard's not so tender ministrations.

The Empress leaned back and propped up her feet, even as she focused on the large holoscreen hanging from the ceiling. Lady Alana was at the end of her performance now, and Isard's decoy was sitting in the audience for the masses to see. Isard herself was far too wise to be in such a public venue yet.

Here the Empress's teeth bared slightly. There were still far too many who wished to see her dead. She would deal with all the traitors and weaklings and make the Empire as it was meant to be, more powerful than even Palpatine had dreamed.

" _Empress of glory!"_ Lady Alana sang on holoscreen, her famous voice lifting to awesomely short wavelengths on the sound spectrum. Behind her, the Mystery Dancer, dressed in a flaming orange outfit with a red and orange mask covering his (or her, or its) face, pirouetted while holding five female human dancers in a peculiar pyramid on its shoulders.

Isard hesitated, then determinedly pushed her com button. After all, she was Empress now.

"Yes, your Highness?"

"Bring Lady Alana and the Mystery Dancer here."

"Yes, your Highness."

/-

 _15 minutes later_

Isard was staring out the transparisteel window when she heard the door open and her personal guards enter along with her guests. There was a shuffling sound behind her. She continued to enjoy the nighttime view of Imperial Center for three more minutes before slowly turning around.

After all, Palpatine had made her wait on her knees more than once.

The sight behind her filled her with vicious delight. The Lady Alana, the greatest singer in the galaxy, was on her knees, her head bowed meekly. To the singer's right and slightly behind her was the tall form of the Mystery, who was down on one knee.

Behind them both, flanking the doors, were two guards. Isard was no idiot. These two had been checked for weapons, of course, but the guards were a wise precaution.

"Rise," she ordered graciously.

Both figures rose to their feet, though the singer kept her eyes downcast.

It was hard to tell what the Mystery was doing as the mask was most concealing.

"Remove your mask," she ordered exultantly. To be able to command at will. How had she lived without this power?

There was a hesitant pause, and then both gloved hands reached up to remove the mask. Involuntarily, Isard flinched back at the sight now before her eyes. The face that was revealed was ... human, but was scarred and damaged beyond belief. The eyes were a piercing blue, and a tube ran to the nose, no doubt providing oxygen or some other type of supportive gases. Over his mouth was some kind of vocoder, indicating that the injuries penetrated beyond the mere surface.

The Empress's eyes narrowed angrily. She had shown weakness. Nothing should bother her, nothing at all.

"So what happened to you?" she demanded coldly. "Were you burned by acid or something?"

"Lava," the man responded, the voice horrifyingly familiar.

In that instant Isard's throat closed up, even as her body froze into position, held by something unseen yet incredibly powerful. Before her wild eyes, the weapons of her two guards were yanked from their hands by an invisible Force. Both men then clutched their own throats.

Her vision swam from lack of oxygen, and then everything went black.

/-

 _Imperial Palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _2 hours later_

"Did the Empress give any ... er ... indication why she wishes to see us?" Relinka Spetzv asked nervously of her co-host, Cray Shifton.

Shifton shook his head as he stepped into the elevator with Spetzv and two video techs.

"No," Cray said shortly. He eyed his co-worker with concern – she'd been burning the midnight power cells and he could see the exhaustion in her eyes after covering the interview with Lady Alana, the crowning of the Empress, and then Lady Alana's concert. He had hoped both of them could go to bed but no, now the Empress was ordering them to attend to her on short notice.

The elevator lifted several levels before opening. The Imperial Holonet crew stepped out to be greeted by a young, dark blond man dressed in the garb of an Imperial lieutenant.

Quite a good looking young man.

"This way, please," the youth said with a slight smile, and led Relinka and crew down a corridor, down another corridor, before stopping in front of a door. Two red Imperial guards stood on either side of the door. One of them lifted a scanner and quickly checked the Holonet crew for weapons, then turned to open the door.

Cray stepped into the room after the young man, followed by Relinka and the crew. The room was a large one, with transmission and other mysterious instrumentation along two walls. Four technicians were hunched over screens. The third wall (the one without the entrance door) had an enormous transparisteel window which showed the unending lights of Imperial City.

In the middle of the room ...

Relinka squealed in shock and surprise even as Cray first gasped, then choked.

Seated on a chair was Empress Ysanne Isard. The woman was bound hand and foot to the chair.

While Cray swayed in bewilderment and Relinka smothered a distressed cry, a closed door on one wall slid open and Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, stepped through.

"Welcome to my coup," the dark bass voice stated coldly.

 _Author Note: We're getting near the end now, I think!_


	13. Chapter 13

_Darth Vader's Operational Center_

 _Imperial Palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

"Welcome to my coup," Darth Vader stated coldly.

There was a frozen pause, and then Luke Skywalker chuckled aloud.

"Father, you really are so dramatic sometimes," he commented.

Luke sensed the waves of shock from both the Holonet crew and Ysanne Isard, though in the latter, rising fury came hard on surprise.

"That ... treasonous slug is no more your father than I am," the woman snarled. The youth could sense her fear at her current situation, but rage was winning out.

The youth walked over and gazed gravely into her furious eyes, "He is indeed my father, Empress Isard. And he is no traitor."

"Actually, he is," a new voice stated with amusement.

Luke spun around and grinned, then stepped forward to give his twin sister a hug. The princess had just marched through the door with Han and Chewbacca in tow. The humans were dressed in Imperial officer uniforms, and the Wookiee was large and hairy, as usual.

"Leia, Han, Chewie! I'm so glad you made it here safely."

The princess glanced at Vader briefly as she nodded, "Indeed, Lord Vader ensured our safe passage from the landing bay to the Imperial Palace. I am pleased that all is proceeding as planned."

The woman stepped briskly over to the furious Empress and stared at her, "Was she difficult to take?"

"Not at all, your Highness," one of the techs stated, turning around from the instrumentation panel. "She did indeed have kill switches and various unpleasant schemes in place in the event of coup, but Lord Vader took her entirely by surprise and we were able to shut down all her plans to decimate large sections of Imperial Center. We're tracking down some of the codes stored in her private holopad. It seems there is a buried prison on the planet where many political prisoners are held. Many of them Rebels, no doubt."

Relinka Spetzv had been staring at the gray garbed tech with wide eyes through this speech, and now she stuttered, "Lady Alana?"

"Agent Quiln, please, Host Spetzv," the woman replied. "Lady Alana is my performance identity."

Quiln/Lady Alana turned toward the Dark Lord now, "Lord Vader, we just received word from the advanced scouting ship that your fleet will arrive in 14 minutes."

"Then I will speak to the galaxy in 11 minutes," Vader boomed, "and make the peoples of the cosmos aware of the change in leadership."

"Traitor! Traitor!" Ysard hissed.

Leia stared down at the steaming Empress, "Actually, Lord Vader's actions against _you_ hardly constitute treason, Isard. He never pledged his loyalty to you. I would argue that his decision to smash Palpatine in the head with a statue did constitute treason, but a most delicious and ironic treason. Palpatine was a thoroughly loathsome individual, a gorryl slug who enveloped his prey and sucked them dry of both independence and morality. Lord Vader's takedown of his master was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

"I am pleased that I meet your approval in any way, Princess Leia," Vader said carefully.

Leia turned toward her sire for a long moment, and then a sly smile lit up her countenance, "I approve of many facets of your new life path, Lord Vader. Including your dancing. You really are a man of numerous skills."

Cray Shifton coughed, and Relinka asked shakily, "Dancing?"

Lady Alana/Agent Quiln smiled, "Yes indeed. Lord Vader was the Mystery Dancer."

/-

 _Captain Pella's private quarters_

 _Star Destroyer_ Quest

 _In orbit around Imperial Center_

 _9 minutes later_

Captain Theodan Pella kicked his boots off and collapsed onto his bed with a groan.

He was in trouble. They all were. Empress Ysanne Isard? The woman had been dangerous for a long time, but now she seemed to be sliding firmly towards insanity. The number of arrests was increasing daily – not just suspected Rebels, but Imperial officers. Individuals were turning on others, hoping to avoid incarceration, torture, and death.

He shuddered slightly, even as he grabbed his frog plushie and hugged it hard against his stomach. He'd been dealing with indigestion, no doubt due to stress, and cuddling his plushie helped.

(A vagrant thought floated through his brain. Could the chocolate covered frogs be another possible cause of his digestive issues? Surely not. They were so tasty!)

He berated himself for not acting sooner. He should have taken the _Quest_ and fled when Isard had won the power struggle on Imperial Center. It was obvious even then that the woman was unstable. A full 25% of the fleet had disappeared into hyperspace over the course of two weeks, presumably to join Vader and his fleet near Zygerria.

But no, Pella had hesitated. Vader was thoroughly scary himself, and it had seemed logical (at the time) to stay near Imperial Center. But now his ship had slave circuits (installed by Isard's agents) and any attempt to flee would result in obliteration. Or worse. He'd far prefer quick death to dying unpleasantly in the bowels of Isard's rumored prison.

There was a brief flicker as the private holoscreen in his quarters switched on.

A moment later, the death mask of Lord Darth Vader appeared on screen.

Pella rolled to his feet, his frog plush dropping to the floor unheeded.

"This is Lord Darth Vader," the cyborg boomed unnecessarily. "Ysanne Isard is under arrest and deposed. I am now in control of Imperial Center and the Empire."

Here the image switched for 5 blessed seconds to an image of the former Empress, bound to a chair, fury and fear in her eyes.

The image switched back to Vader, who continued in a measured tone, "My fleet will arrive at Imperial Center in a few minutes. Imperial Captains, if you wish to avoid battle with my fleet, raise shields and retreat a half parsec away from Imperial Center. Any ship remaining in Imperial Center orbit will be considered an enemy combatant. Those who wish to switch their allegiance to me should transmit the code being generated now. Vader out."

The holoscreen flickered off, but Pella was already out the door, running toward the bridge in his socks.

Part of his brain was frantic with the need to transmit the code and retreat a half parsec into space.

The other part was screaming over and over and over again "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

It was quite an indictment against the leadership of Ysanne Isard when Darth Vader was an obvious improvement.

/-

 _Interrogation Room #4_

 _Imperial Prison beneath the Imperial Palace_

 _2 days later_

Ysanne Isard, flanked by two guards, stepped into the room, struggling to control her breathing.

Yes, she was an emotional mess. From Empress to prisoner in 2 short days. She was too scared to be angry. Mostly.

No, she was angry. And scared. Very very scared.

The room was a small one, with a black table in the center. A large chair was on one side of the table. The guards pushed Isard into the chair and proceeded to manacle her wrists and ankles to it. This whole being tied to objects thing was getting old.

On the other side of the table were two other chairs.

Her guards retreated out the door and Isard waited for three agonizing minutes.

The door opened. Ysanne Isard took a deep breath and lifted her head, expecting the tall form of Darth Vader to appear in her vision.

She was surprised. It was not Vader. It was Leia Organa of Alderaan, followed by another vaguely familiar man wearing ... Corellian bloodstripes?

"... we'll try that, certainly," the princess said with her eyes fixed on the holopad. "If that doesn't work, we'll have to fight our way in. I do have concerns about the safety of the prisoners. It would be better if we could enter using codes or retinal scan."

"It seems unlikely it'll be that easy, Leia," the man returned.

"I know," Organa said with a sigh. She lifted her head now and gazed down at Ysanne Isard for a long moment, then carefully seated herself. The Corellian lowered himself into the seat next to her, his hand near his blaster.

As if Ysanne could somehow throw off her chains and escape or something.

"We found the _Lusankya_ ," Organa stated.

Isard lifted her chin but remained silent.

"We need to free the prisoners held in her cells," the princess continued calmly. "If you cooperate, it will go better for you during your trial."

Isard stared at her for a long moment, then shook her head incredulously, "You surely don't believe I'm such a fool, do you, Princess Leia? There will be no trial. Vader will have me executed unpleasantly in front of the holocams for all to see."

The slight woman leaned back in her chair, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully, "Not if I intercede for you, Isard. I am certain I can persuade Lord Vader ..."

A persistent tone interrupted her. The princess frowned and glanced at her comlink.

"Yes?" she asked, flipping it on.

"Hey, Leia?" a male voice responded. "I'm going on Relinka Spetzv's show with Lady Alana in a few minutes and I was wondering about you. Do you want the whole galaxy to know the family complications? Or not? Whatever you want, no pressure."

Organa sighed and shot her companion an inquiring look. He apparently had no useful opinion, because he merely shrugged.

"Go ahead and tell the galaxy," the woman said after a moment. "After all, Alliance High Command and miscellaneous others know we are twins. It would get out quickly and I'd rather just tell everyone up front."

"Ok. Listen, I'll catch up with you in the next few hours. We have a meeting with Father at 1800 and I wanted to discuss a few things with you beforehand. "

"Sounds good. I'll see you later, Luke."

Organa turned off her comlink and focused her attention on Ysanne Isard, who was gazing at her in disbelief. Luke Skywalker claimed to be Darth Vader's son, and Leia Organa said she was Skywalker's twin, so ...

"You ... you believe that Darth Vader is your father?" the former Empress finally sputtered.

"I prefer progenitor," Organa replied coolly. "And he _is_ my biological sire. I find that as regrettable as anyone since he helped destroy the Republic and the Jedi, murdered thousands upon thousands and stood by as my planet was destroyed, but facts are facts. He is indeed the male human who contributed half of my genetic information."

Isard gazed back, her mind whirling. Perhaps she could use this ...

"Your Highness," she said carefully, "you must realize that you can't trust Vader ..."

"I trust that Darth Vader, formerly Anakin Skywalker, is genuinely attached to me in his own somewhat demented way," Organa interrupted firmly. "Let's cut to the chase, Isard. Darth Vader has committed numerous crimes against the galaxy and, under other scenarios, would be facing trial and possible execution even as you are. However, for a variety of reasons, he has my support, and my brother's, and that of the Rebel Alliance. Given that both you and Vader have committed great crimes, and Vader is getting a pass, there is no strong argument for your execution if you are willing to work with us. You'll be locked up, of course, but I presume that is preferable to death?"

Isard stared back, her expression grim. Death was indeed preferable to ...

"And if you cooperate, you will not be tortured," the princess said unnervingly. Could she read minds as her supposed sire could?

The former Empress chuckled dryly, "If you truly believe that, Princess Leia, you don't know Darth Vader."

Organa's companion leaned forward, "Vader tortured Leia in the Death Star detention blocks, Isard. She knows him better than you do, and what he is capable of. Right now, your only hope is to work with the princess."

Isard's throat worked before she forced defiant words out, "You would be wise to execute me immediately, Princess Leia. I have many supporters here on Imperial Center and in the Core Worlds."

The princess sighed and looked down at her holopad for a long moment.

"55.3% of Imperial starships in Imperial Center orbit surrendered to us immediately," she stated, looking back up at the former Empress. "Another 35.4% disappeared into hyperspace, leaving only 9.3% of your fleet to defend Imperial Center against Vader's fleet."

There was a long pause before the princess continued, almost gently, "You took your shot and you failed, Isard. You pushed too hard and you fell. It happens. But there is no hope that you will ever command anything again in this galaxy. You will be long known as the One Day Empress, but your only hope for the future is cooperation."

Isard gritted her teeth and pondered.

Hard.

For several minutes.

"All right," she finally said, forcing the words out. "I'm willing to cooperate, but this is what I want ..."

/-

 _Med Bay #1_

 _Darth Vader's Palace_

 _2 days later_

"Very good, Commander," Doctor Sert stated, his tone filled with professional delight. "A 15.3% improvement in nutrient absorption in the last 35 minutes. Incredible."

"Well, you are giving Father the good drugs," Skywalker said with a smile.

Sert shook his head, "Studies show an average improvement of 6% over the course of days. The improvement is obviously accelerated by your use of the Force."

The youth nodded agreeably, "I'm finding it easier to focus on the underlying structures now, which helps the medicine work better. If that makes sense."

"I feel like a medical experiment," Anakin grumbled, just for form's sake. He was lying quietly on his reclined medical bed, his eyes closed, his mind relaxed. He felt so much better. So. Much. Better. His skin was still a major work in progress but his internal organs were being repaired at a truly miraculous rate thanks to the combined efforts of Luke and Doctor Sert.

"You _are_ a medical experiment," his son replied with amusement, then his tone grew serious. "Actually, Father. I did want to talk to you about that ..."

A flare in the Force interrupted him and Anakin heard the door slide open. He opened his eyes to see his daughter, her dark hair piled high, her face ablaze with sorrow and passion.

"We're still getting the prisoners out of the _Lusankya_ ," Leia stated angrily. "Many are at death's door. What was Palpatine _thinking_ to build a Super Star Destroyer and bury it in the crust of Imperial Center and hand it over to Isard as a prison?"

"An escape vessel, no doubt," Vader rumbled thoughtfully. "In the event of a coup, probably by me. For all that I deprecate Anakin's recklessness, I must confess that it was best to take Palpatine by surprise. Palpatine was intelligent and paranoid, and a more conventional plot would likely have failed"

There was a pause while his twin children gazed at him with mirrored furrowed brows.

"I thought you and Anakin were integrated now, Father," Luke said in a slightly worried tone.

The large shoulders shrugged slightly, "We are, largely. I regrettably remonstrated with the Anakin part of me more than once over his decisions in the Art Museum, and I wish to make amends."

"With yourself," Leia said carefully.

"Yes."

Leia sighed, "Ok then. Next on the agenda, Alliance High Command will be arriving on the roof of this palace in three hours and we have a meeting scheduled an hour after that."

Her twin groaned, "More boring meetings."

The princess snorted inelegantly, "You don't need to be there, Luke. Indeed, you project boredom so powerfully that I'd rather you weren't there. You are distracting. Perhaps you can help Winter with the _Lusankya_ refugees? She's working on triaging them. It isn't just medical problems, but mental and emotional after what they've been through.

"Of course I'm glad to help," Luke said quickly. "Of course. I'm glad Winter is available; she's the perfect person for that project."

"Who is Winter?" Anakin asked curiously.

There was a hesitant pause, and then his daughter said softly, "Winter Retrac. She has been posing as Lady Alana's business associate, Marne, for the last months, but she's originally from Alderaan. The Organas raised her after the death of her mother so she is like a sister to me."

There was a long pause and then Anakin spoke softly, "I see."

"She has perfect memory," Luke continued. "She never forgets anything, and has a remarkable ability to collate and organize information. She'll be able to administrate the needs of the Lusankya survivors better than anyone else. Given that I've been practicing on you, Father, I think I can help with the medical and mind healing side of the problem."

Leia nodded enthusiastically, "I agree, Luke. Oh, and Lord Vader? There is an additional agent traveling with Alliance High Command group that specifically wishes to meet you."

Anakin looked over at his daughter with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation, "Indeed? That must be a rarity, that a Rebel would wish to meet with me. I do assume his purpose is something other than killing me?"

"I don't know her purpose," Leia admitted, glancing down at her holopad with a frown. "Her code name is Fulcrum but I was just informed of her original name. Ahsoka Tano? Is that familiar?"

Immediately, in the somewhat repaired eardrums of Anakin Skywalker, the blood suddenly thundered like the raging storms of Kamino.


	14. Chapter 14

_Author Note: I decided to go AU on Ahsoka Tano. In this story, she did_ not _meet Vader on Malachor. So the last time she saw her former master was during the Clone Wars after she left the Jedi Order._

/-

 _Bay #25_

 _Imperial Hospital #2_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _2 hours later_

"Lady Retrac?"

"Please call me Winter, Commander Skywalker."

"Please call me Luke, Winter."

"Very well."

"Who do you have here? Oh ..."

Luke stopped suddenly, staring down in horror and awe at the thin form on the medbay bed.

"General Dodonna?" he asked in horror.

He knew it _was_ Dodonna. He recognized him, if only barely. The man had aged tremendously in the last three years, ever since he'd been captured by the Empire in the frenetic chaos during the evacuation of Yavin. Skywalker shuddered slightly; Alliance High Command had given Dodonna up for dead long ago, but it was clear he'd been suffering from the Empire's ministrations for these long years.

"Yes," Winter said softly, her face sorrowful. "I'm afraid he's in a coma. Malnutrition, torture, exhaustion. We're doing everything we can but it truly doesn't look good."

Luke stared at her face for a long moment then firmly plopped down on a chair next to the aged general.

"I'm going to work with him, Ok?" he said, his eyes shifting to the old man's drawn visage. "I've learned so much about healing from my work on my father."

Winter sighed, her face suddenly weary, "Comm ... Luke, I appreciate your willingness to help, but it might well be more fruitful for you to work with prisoners who aren't so far gone."

Luke shook his head, his gaze never leaving Dodonna's face, "I appreciate your administrative expertise and your wisdom, Winter, but I believe this is what I'm called to do right now."

"Very well," the woman responded quietly. She retreated out the door as Luke settled down to focus on the old general.

/-

 _Anakin/Vader's Office_

 _Darth Vader's Palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _2 hours later_

Anakin gestured with the Force, causing the door to his office to slide open. His chair swiveled to face the newcomers and he lifted his scarred, unmasked face, though he remained seated.

She had grown tall in the years since he'd last seen her, but the fire in her blue eyes, and the rigidity of her montrals, showed that she had not lost any of her youthful spirit which had made her one of the most daring and passionate padawans the Jedi Order had ever seen.

"Ahsoka," Anakin said softly.

"Vader," she snarled back, her eyes narrowed in rage. "I ought to stab you through the heart right now."

Leia, who had followed the former Jedi initiate into the room, looked startled and distressed. She took an anxious step forward, but her sire waved her back.

"I'm sorry," Anakin responded.

"And after I stab you," Tano continued, "I should cut your body into 54 pieces and feed them to the nearest available acklay."

"Er, Lady Tano," Leia intervened carefully, "it really wouldn't be appropriate for you to murder Lord Vader."

The Togruta turned to face the diminutive brunette and suddenly her face relaxed into a slight smile, "I won't really kill your father, Princess Leia. I'm just expressing my outrage at his life choices for the last 23 odd years."

"I prefer biological sire, Lady Tano," Leia said firmly. "Bail Organa will always be my true father. And of course I agree with you fully about his life choices. But realistically, he's changed a great deal and his continued existence is vital for the stability of the galaxy. And my brother's heart would be broken if you stabbed our father through the heart with a lightsaber."

Tano smiled again, this time more genuinely, "You have both your mother's looks and way with words. I apologize. I promise I won't really chop him into tiny bits."

Anakin spoke up now, "Princess, if you could give us a few minutes?"

Leia stared at her progenitor, then at Ahsoka, then nodded and strode out the door.

Tano waited until the door slid shut.

"You look terrible, by the way," she commented.

The scarred cheeks lifted slightly in a smile, "Please don't tell my son that, Snips. He and my personal doctor have worked incredibly hard in healing me these last weeks. If you think this is bad, you should have seen me a year ago."

Tano jerked slightly at the name 'Snips', but she kept her eyes focused on her former master.

"What happened to you?" she asked softly.

The former Sith slumped slightly, his expression mournful, "That's a complex question, Ahsoka. What happened to me physically? Or emotionally? Or spiritually?"

The woman sighed and clasped her hands in front of her, "Let's start with spiritually. I don't ... I don't understand. The Jedi Order had issues and no one knows that more than me. Which is why I left. But there is a huge difference between leaving the Order and destroying it. Why, Master? Why?"

The worn man shrugged helplessly, "Because I made terrible choices. Because my mother was dead as a result of my failures. Because I lost you, Snips. Because we were in the middle of a war with no end in sight and I wanted it to end. Because I trusted Palpatine. Because I loved Padme and she loved me and Anakin had dreams of her death in childbirth ..."

"Anakin?" Tano repeated in a puzzled tone.

"Anakin had dreams of Padme's death in childbirth," Vader repeated. "That was the precipitating crisis. But Anakin had no solution so I chose to pledge my allegiance to Palpatine in the hopes that I could save her."

"Which was a lousy decision," Anakin continued. "Vader lost his temper and he ... he choked Padme. He harmed her physically, and broke her heart emotionally."

Tano lurched back a few centimeters.

"Um, what is this?" she asked with concern written large across her face.

Another shrug from the man in the chair, "I'm sorry, Snips. In the years of Vader's devotion to the Dark Side, a secondary personality, Anakin Skywalker, continued to exist. Anakin was horrified at Vader's actions, but was powerless to stop him. Once I learned of the existence of my son and daughter, the two parts of my personality began to meld. I am largely integrated now, but the topic of Padme ... is still a difficult one. I still experience occasional dissociation when I consider the events of Mustafar."

Ahsoka breathed silently and deeply for a full two minutes before asking carefully, "Did your extensive injuries also occur at Mustafar?"

The cyborg rose carefully to his feet and stepped carefully over to a window, out of which shown the myriad lights of Imperial City.

(The new prosthetics were far better fitting, far lighter, far stronger, thanks to improved technology. But he was still getting used to them.)

"Indeed," he continued so quietly that Ahsoka strained to hear him. "Kenobi and I fought a lightsaber duel which ended with Kenobi removing my last three organic limbs and leaving me to die on the shores of Mustafar's lava fields. I ... I caught fire. Darth Sidious came to my rescue and carried me back to Imperial Center, where I was placed in my life support suit."

Tano knew her face had grown pale in horror, "That is terrible, Skyguy. I can't believe Obi-Wan could do such a thing! Kill you, yes. I understand that! But to leave you in torment? How could he?"

Anakin turned now, his face sorrowful, "Padme was in crisis, Ahsoka. I had indeed attacked her in a rage. Perhaps Kenobi rushed to her rescue assuming that my life would end quickly. I ... I hope so. I hope that he didn't deliberately leave me to die in agony."

"Perhaps he couldn't find it in his heart to deliver the killing blow," she suggested.

He nodded halfheartedly, "Perhaps."

"Hey, is there anything to eat around here?" Tano asked suddenly. "Interacting with my former master who became an insane Sith Lord is hungry work."

The scarred face creased in amusement, "Certainly. There is a food and drink unit in the next room. Feel free to get what you want. And if you'd be so kind, order some blue milk pudding for me."

Ahsoka was already on her way toward the door but she turned now, "Blue milk pudding? Really? No Nabooian crab? Or nerf meat stew, Master? You were always kind of a meat guy."

Anakin smiled, "I have lived on nasty nutrient pastes for decades now, Snips. I assure you that blue milk pudding is a gift for my partially repaired stomach. Better than moonglow. Luke and Doctor Sert have been working on digestive issues, you see. Before that, I needed to constantly have filtering of my blood to remove waste products which built up because ..."

"Ok, that's enough information," Ahsoka interrupted hastily. "Blue milk pudding it is."

Her eyes danced roguishly, "And when I get back with the food, you'll have to tell me about your dancing. I didn't have the pleasure of seeing you in your role as the Mystery Dancer, but Princess Leia tells me that you are quite adept!"

Anakin groaned.

/-

 _Imperial Holonet Studio_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _2 hours later_

"I am indeed honored to be part of Emperor Vader's inauguration festivities," Lady Alana stated enthusiastically, "in spite of the ironic aspects."

"Indeed, quite ironic," Relinka Spetzv said with a toss of her black mane, "considering that you and he took down the previous Empress."

"Mostly he did," Lady Alana said modestly. "I merely provided a face to face opportunity so that Lord Vader could use his amazing Force powers to stop Isard."

Relinka threw a hand across her chest, her fingers splayed dramatically, "I know I speak for all of us here in thanking you for your noble and brave act, Lady Alana. The prior Empress was a dangerous menace to the galaxy, and we look forward to an era of peace and prosperity under Lord Vader's benevolent reign. And speaking of Lord Vader, is there any chance that he will be reprising his role at as the Mystery Dancer at your concert?"

Lady Alana blinked in surprise, and Winter, who had been sitting quietly thus far, spoke firmly, "I'm afraid not, Host Spetzv. Lord Vader has to run the galaxy, and hardly has time for performing."

"A pity, a pity," Relinka said with a droop of her famously full lips.

"But," she continued more enthusiastically, "onto other things. Is it true that Commander Luke Skywalker, son of Lord Vader, took you to an offbeat restaurant in Coco Town recently?"

"Dex's Diner, yes," Alana agreed with a slightly puzzled frown between her eyes. "He took Winter and me because we have all been working very hard with the transition in government. It's a place with fine selection of hearty food, though not the Menarai, of course."

"No chocolate frogs?" Relinka asked with a twinkle.

"No chocolate frogs," Alana agreed enthusiastically.

"Well, I just want to say that we all look forward to following your developing relationship with the Emperor's heir, Lady Alana. He's a privileged young man."

"Um, what?!" the famous singer/Rebel agent sputtered. "No, no, no, that's not it at all …"

"I understand," Spetzv agreed with a sly smile. "You can't say anything about it."

/-

 _General Dodonna's med bay_

He opened his eyes cautiously. Consciousness was rarely something that he welcomed these days as it brought fear, hunger, torture, thirst, or some combination thereof.

But he was not uncomfortable, or in pain, or hungry, or thirsty. Odd.

A figure sat at his side. A blurred figure. A small figure, with dark hair, white robes, and pale skin.

"Jan?" a soft, feminine voice asked.

"Who is it?" Dodonna managed to rasp out.

"It's me, General Dodonna, Leia Organa."

His vision cleared more. He was lying in a comfortable bed, with a window showing a view of a massive city. He had IV's in both arms and a bacta bandage around his right hand, which had been a festering ooze of infection for some weeks now after a particular vicious interrogation.

The woman seated at his side truly was Leia Organa. It had been several years since he had last seen her but he would never forget her, not just because of her brilliant looks but because of the determination in her eyes.

Dodonna shook his head in weary hopelessness, "Oh no, Princess, no. They captured you as well."

The girl looked puzzled for a moment and then shook her head passionately even as she reached out to clasp his left hand with her own warm one, "No, Jan, no. That's not it at all. We've rescued you!"

Her eyes filled with tears and she continued in a hushed tone, "General, we won the war."

 _Author Note: Getting closer, getting closer, to being done I mean. For those of you reading_ Dalam Enterprises _, my apologies for the long delay in updating. I'll get back to it when I'm done with this story._


	15. Chapter 15

_Imperial Ball Room_

 _Emperor's Palace_

 _2 weeks later_

Relinka Spetzv tossed her bright pink hair and smiled soulfully into the holocam.

"Relinka Spetzv here," she said gravely. "Today was a great and glorious day, as Emperor Vader was crowned in a solemn ceremony in his palace. And now, the Imperial and Alliance elite are at a celebratory ball. The music and pageantry are truly an inspiration to a galaxy which has struggled so long with war, and which, we hope, is facing a new era of peace and prosperity."

/-

On a dais at the end of the Imperial ball room, Emperor Vader, former Dark Lord of the Sith, sat on a giant throne. Flanking him were four guards dressed in stormtrooper white armor. Hovering nearby, for reasons not entirely understood, loomed the giant form of Chewbacca the Wookiee. Luke had said, rather vaguely, that Chewbacca would be his "Alliance guard." Whatever that meant.

" _I'm bored,_ " Anakin commented.

"I am the Emperor of the galaxy," Vader replied. "As such, there will be boring moments for ceremonial reasons."

" _And I hate this mask,"_ Anakin said sulkily.

"The mask," Vader agreed wearily, "is indeed most tedious. But the mask and armor are a vital part of our persona. Until the galactic situation stabilizes, I will need to wear the armor and mask in public."

" _I wish Padme was here. She was an amazing dancer. I'd give anything to have her in my arms again."_

Vader could only sigh in agreement, even as he relished that the name of his dead wife no longer brought about anguished pain. He had attacked his Angel, but he hadn't killed her. If nothing good happened for the rest of his days, he would be grateful of this truth. He had spent so long loathing himself for murdering his own wife ...

The music in the Imperial ball room came to a stop, and the assembled guests stopped and clapped for the requisite 15 seconds. Vader stiffened slightly as Leia and the Eriaduan ambassador stopped in front of his throne. His daughter was radiant in a green dress which reached to the ground, and her long hair was piled up in an elaborate crown of braids. The (former) Dark Lord gazed suspiciously at the Eriaduan ambassador, then relaxed slightly. The man's Force sense was not romantic but alarmed. No doubt his diminutive daughter had succeeded in intimidating the man during their dance.

"May I have this one?" another voice drawled.

Leia turned toward Han Solo, who had come up behind her, and smiled brilliantly even as she nodded. A moment later, the twosome had swung away in a Corellian waltz.

" _They are in love, you know,"_ Anakin stated.

"They are not permitted to be in love," Vader riposted.

" _Good luck with that,"_ his Alter stated snidely.

Vader could think of no appropriate response, so he allowed his gaze to wander the ballroom.

His son Luke had Lady Alana in his arms and he was (given his past as a Tatooine farmboy) a surprisingly gifted dancer. He was dressed in black, she in cloth of gold. They made a handsome couple and he heard the soft murmuring of the sycophants and toadies who were seeking information about the power shifts at the top of the Empire.

A twinge in the Force caused him to shift his attention to the door into the ball room. He gasped softly in surprise, then spent a moment enjoying his ability to gasp. It was so _fun_ being able to breathe on his own, even if he had to listen to the tedious inhalation and exhalations sounds in order to maintain his public persona.

Ahsoka Tano stepped through the door, her montrals twitching in excitement. And on her arm was ...

" _Commander Rex!"_ Anakin chortled in delight. " _This is awesome!_ "

"Awesome isn't the word I would use," Vader responded uneasily. Rex had been a loyal commander during the Clone Wars, but then Sidious had triggered Order 66 and most of the clones had turned on the Jedi. But Rex ... what had happened to Rex's chip? It must have been removed? If not, Rex was a danger to his children ...

" _Chill, Skyguy_ ," Tano's voice rang in his head. " _Rex removed the chip after Fives discovered the anti-Jedi directive in the chip. He's good._ "

Vader relaxed slightly even as Anakin mourned. Order 66 had been such a tragedy.

The waltz music ended and Luke, by accident or design, ended up in front of the throne.

"I'll tell Wedge to coordinate with you, Agent Quiln," he said softly, though Vader could hear his words. "If you can locate the Black Sun base on Ryloth, we should be able to make a significant dent in the slave trade."

"As you wish, Commander," Lady Alana said professionally, then turned with a sudden, gleaming smile as Relinka Spetzv approached with holocams in tow.

"Relinka!" Lady Alana said with apparent joy.

"Lady Alana!"

Luke surreptitiously hopped backwards and up on the dais and next to his father.

"Are you all right, Father?" he asked worriedly.

Vader paused.

"I am well enough, my son," he responded carefully. "What instigates your concern?"

"You're talking to yourself," Luke said, his eyes troubled. "You've come so far in integrating that I find this disassociation worrying."

"We're just bored," Anakin said aloud. "It's fun to argue."

Luke nodded, relieved.

/-

 _Leia Organa's and Luke Skywalker's shared quarters_

 _Emperor Vader's Palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _The next morning_

Leia Organa groaned, flopped over in bed, groaned again, glanced at her chrono, then groaned again (just for good measure.)

0800 wasn't ridiculously early, but the coronation festivities had lasted until 0300 so she had been asleep less than 5 hours. Which wasn't enough given her heavy schedule for the day.

But Luke was in their joint kitchen, vibrating tense excitement, and unless he started shielding, she'd not be able to get back to sleep. For that matter, she was pretty much awake now even if he did start shielding.

With a grunt, Leia rolled out of bed, threw on a robe and fuzzy shaak slippers, and stalked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen.

Luke was indeed there, sitting at the table, his chin cradled on one hand and nursing an enormous mug of caf. He looked worse than she did, and her short term irritation morphed into sympathy.

With a sigh, Leia wandered over to pour herself a cup of (thankfully hot and fresh) caf – encouragingly named "adulting caf" according to the nearby package – and sat down next to her brother.

For a minute, both twins slurped down the hot, vibrant beverage.

"So what's up?" Leia asked, finally.

Luke sighed and took another drink.

"Bad night," he responded mournfully. "Bad dreams."

Leia stiffened. Bad dreams were scary where Skywalkers were concerned. Her biological father's bad dreams had been a _disaster._

"No, not that kind of bad dream," Luke assured her quickly, obviously sensing her distress. "It wasn't a nightmare, exactly. Just super annoying. I was back on Tatooine ..."

"Yuck," Leia said sympathetically. She'd never been to Tatooine but Luke and Anakin both whined about it so much that she thought she'd better go with solicitous grumbling.

"Yeah," her brother sighed, leaning back. "I was trying to fix a moisture vaporator but I didn't have the parts I needed and I kept dropping my tools, and then Uncle Owen told me to go into Tosche Station and the landspeeder broke down and the sandpeople showed up and started yelling at me in Tusken, which I couldn't understand. And then I went to Fixer's store and the parts I needed weren't there AND I didn't have enough credits ..."

He rolled his eyes, "You get the picture. It was an 'I can't get anything done' dream."

"Yeah, I've had plenty of those," Leia said agreeably, and waited. She could tell there was more to the dream than mere annoyance.

"There was also ... a weird person who kept appearing throughout the dream," her brother said hesitantly.

Leia stood up to refill her cup, "A weird person?"

"Yeah, a short, green guy, with kind of elf ears who spoke peculiar, fractured Basic. He was at the farm, and then in my landspeeder, and then he kind of shooed away the Tuskens, and he was cavorting around like a sand skitter at Fixer's place."

Leia sat back down, frowning, "Did he say anything?"

"Oh yes. On Dagobah I am. Train you I must, young Skywalker, and your sister too. Trained you must be. And so on. But it was really weird. I mean, all the Jedi are dead and he was too much like a puppet to be a Jedi anyway, right?"

"Maybe you just ate too much moonglow at the banquet and it made your dreams weird?" Leia speculated.

"I didn't touch the moonglow," Luke riposted with a twinkle in his eye. "I don't eat things that might kill me."

"Good call. But Luke, I really don't think you need to worry about a weird green guy in your dreams. He is probably just a figment of your own rather ... deranged imagination."

"Master Yoda is definitely not a figment of anyone's deranged imagination," a new voice said.

The Skywalkers both jerked slightly and Luke shook his head, "Ok, we're really out of it when you can sneak up on us."

Ahsoka smiled and took another chair at the table. A moment later, a cup floated out of a cupboard, filled itself with blue milk from the cooling unit and floated over to the table.

"I've perfected my shielding the last 20+ years," she said, "but I suspect you also didn't notice me because you know I'm not a threat."

"True," Leia said briskly. She was feeling more awake now. "So who is Master Yoda?"

"An ancient Jedi Master, the Grandmaster of the Order in my day."

"When did he die?" Leia asked curiously.

Tano tilted her head, her montrals twitching lightly, "I don't think he did. Sounds like he's alive. I had a dream about him last night as well, though he couldn't seem to talk to me. But if you dreamed about Yoda, and I did too, it sounds like he's out there ... somewhere."

"Dagobah," Luke said absently. "That's what he said, anyway."

"Dagobah? Is that even a place?" Leia asked in a puzzled tone.

"Yeah," her twin responded. "I looked it up and it's a real planet, not _too_ far from Hoth. Swamp planet, with no known sentient life."

There was a long pause and then Leia said, heavily, "Well, we can't go to this Dagobah for training. That's ridiculous. We both have responsibilities, not to mention we need to keep Vader sane."

"No, but Master Yoda could come here," Ahsoka said, thoughtfully. "He's an odd individual but he has so much experience and wisdom and history. He's a good sentient, though set in his ways."

She sighed aloud, "I'm not sure though. On one hand, I think he'd be a tremendous help in ... in figuring out how the Jedi Order proceeds, if it does. He has so much knowledge of the Force. On the other hand, he and Skyguy have _issues_. And there is the whole 'no attachments' rule."

"The 'no attachments' rule has to go," Leia said flatly. "Romantic love is a natural part of life for most sentients. Trying to cut that off is unhealthy and ridiculous."

Tano shrugged, "I'm not arguing that with you. But Master Yoda is crazy old, like _900 years_ old, and the Order has forbidden romantic entanglements and marriage for those centuries. He probably will have a huge problem with, say, your relationship with Solo, Princess."

"Please call me Leia," the princess said, her eyes narrowing. "And he can jump into a vat of eel pudding for all I care. I'm not giving up Han."

Tano lifted up a placating hand, "And I agree with you. Your Corellian seems like a fine man. I'm just saying that if you fetch Master Yoda and bring him here, the first thing he'll probably do is harangue you about your relationship with Solo. It won't start things off on the right ... claw, so to speak."

"Harumph," Leia growled, and shook her head. "I'm not sure I can handle that. We've got enough diplomatic problems with Black Sun and the Empire and the Alliance and the Hutts without having to argue with an aged elf about whether I should get married or not."

There was a pause, and then Luke lifted his head to stare straight into his sister's beautiful face. Their eyes met.

"There is an obvious way around that, of course," Luke said.

"That's ridiculous," Leia replied with a longing smile.

"But it would be fun," her twin responded with a devilish grin.

"What would?" Tano asked uneasily.

/-

 _Imperial Holonet Studio C_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _4 days later_

Relinka gulped down a boiled convor egg and threw down a glass of water. A moment later, her insides burned uncomfortably. Ouch, indigestion. She really needed to eat more slowly.

But she didn't have _time_ to eat more slowly. Every time the news cycle showed signs of taking a brief break, something crazy would happen and she'd be in front of the holocams again.

Relinka glared at her hair. It had been purple for 4 days now! She never went that long between color changes, but the last days have been so busy she hadn't been able to visit the Twi'lek hairdresser Charlina who did her dyeing magic on a regular basis.

Poor Charlina was probably losing her mind, as the purple was fading a bit. Not enough for an amateur to notice, but Charlina was the consummate professional.

Spetzv sighed and glanced at her schedule for the day. Well, she had an interview with Princess Leia Organa in 15 minutes. With any luck, Relinka could wrap up the interview in 30 minutes, which would give her time to change her hair color to aquamarine before she had to rush off to the Imperial Zoo to do a story on the birth of a rare Alderaanian wolf-cat kitten. Given the horrifying destruction of Alderaan and the reality that Emperor Vader's daughter was a royal survivor, all things Alderaanian were newsworthy these days.

And the wolf-cat kitten was adorable, which gave the story extra ratings points. Relinka loved fuzzy, cute animals, but she had to admit she'd rather just go to bed.

A brief chime signaled that Princess Leia had arrived. Pasting on her famous smile, Relinka hurried to the door and opened it, bowing slightly to the lovely brunette as the woman, dressed in white, entered the studio.

To Relinka's surprise, however, the princess was not alone. Immediately behind her was the tall Corellian named Han Solo. Then came Prince Luke Skywalker, Emperor Vader, three individuals dressed in garish orange flight suits (the fashionista in Relinka cringed in horror, but she subdued her reaction), Lady Alana, the woman named Winter, and finally a tall Mon Calamari in a white uniform.

Relinka gulped hard, "Er, Princess Leia? I ... am sorry, I didn't realize that there would be others attending this interview."

"On the contrary, Relinka, it is I who must apologize," the princess said with what was clearly a roguish twinkle in her eye. "I'm afraid we're going to hijack the interview and do something entirely different."

Spetzv took a deep breath, "And what is that, your Highness?"

There was a pause, even as everyone looked expectantly at Emperor Vader.

There was a dramatic pause.

"My daughter ," the Emperor said in a studiously neutral tone, "wishes to be married."

Relinka stared at the black cyborg for a long moment, then turned to the princess with a beaming smile.

"You're getting married?" she gushed. "And who is the lucky man?"

Leia Organa reached back and yanked the Corellian to her side, "Han, of course. Han Solo."

Spetzv nodded professionally. This was not unexpected, as yesterday's Celebrity News show had devoted 2 hours to the bizarre romance between the regal Organa and the scruffy Solo, an ex-pirate with a giant Wookiee co-pilot and a ship that looked like it was held together by molecord rope.

"Congratulations, your Highness," Relinka said happily. The Holonet Network would get hours and _hours_ of programming discussing this crazy engagement, and no doubt Solo's shabby outfit would become the latest fashion craze. "So do you have a date for the wedding yet?"

The princess looked surprised, "Yes, today. We're getting married right now. Admiral Akbar is going to marry us, and Emperor Vader and my brother and Wedge Antilles will be witnesses."

Relinka stared, her eyes dilating, and then fainted.

"This is a nightmare," Vader told Anakin.

" _I think it's very romantic,_ " his Alter gushed back.

 _Author Note: Sorry for the delay in updating! I got distracted with another fanfic. Thanks so much to my wonderful husband who loyally edits and finds my grammatical errors, plus adds fantastic additions to the prose._


	16. Chapter 16

_Winter Retrac's temporary office_

 _Imperial Hospital #2_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

Winter glanced up as the door slid open, then straightened in her chair as Luke Skywalker scuttled through the door.

The white haired woman frowned in concern, "Is something wrong, Luke?"

The youth sighed, raked a dramatic hand through his hair, and dropped into a nearby seat, "Holonet reporters."

Winter relaxed and smiled, "Ah. Persistent, are they?"

Skywalker groaned, "Yes, very persistent. Like, Fexian Skullborer persistent, except that they don't want to suck out my brains to kill me, they want to suck out my brains and turn them into hundreds of hours of programming on my sister's wedding and marriage. Like really? Why ask me? Ask her!"

"But Leia's gone, right?" the woman asked.

Luke nodded reluctantly, "Yeah, the _Falcon_ took off a couple of hours ago. But my point is that while I'm her brother, I'm not her keeper. I don't want to talk about it. Why _should_ I talk about it? Han's a great guy and they wanted to get married, and they did, on the live Holonet, on short notice. End of story."

Winter smiled sadly, "On Alderaan, a royal wedding required at least 18 months preparation. Leia's marriage to Solo was rather startling from a ... tradition perspective."

Luke's eyes widened in horror, "If I ever get married, I am not waiting 18 months. No way. I mean, maybe a few months but 18? You have to be kidding me!"

Winter shook her head, her face suddenly clouded, "The Alderaanian Royal Family had special responsibilities, of course, so there were a variety of ceremonies and traditions. That's typical for royalty."

"I'm sorry, Winter," Luke said softly, compassionately.

She looked surprised, "About?"

Skywalker stood up now and strode over to the window, staring out at his father's palace a kilometer away.

After a long moment, he turned around, his face tight, "Do you think I don't know how hard it is every time you think about Alderaan, Winter? You have _perfect memory_. For Leia, the loss of Alderaan and her parents hurts tremendously, but the memories have faded with time. I know that every time _you_ are reminded of Alderaan, you remember losing your family and your planet and your home in vibrant, agonizing detail."

Winter stared at him incredulously, " _How_ do you know?"

Luke stared at her, "I sense it. In the Force."

The woman sat back in her chair, her eyes wide with distress, "I'm sorry, Luke. I didn't realize ... so you're saying I'm projecting my ... my painful memories through the Force? I'm so sorry ..."

"Sorry?" Luke interrupted her, his eyes suddenly bright, "Sorry? Please don't apologize to me, Winter! You lost your planet and have been working yourself to the bone to coordinate the medical and mental care for the _Lusankya_ prisoners, plus you are still assisting Lady Alana! You have been a fighter and a warrior for a long time, using your incredible memory to manage miracles. We ... I ... appreciate it. But I admit I worry about you. You, like my sister, tend to push yourself to the limit. Your memory is a gift, but in some ways, like Force sensitivity, it could be argued it is a curse."

Winter sighed and shook her head, "We're in a war, Commander. I'm thankful for my memory, though as you said, it does cause significant pain. But for all that the last weeks have been some kind of miracle on the galactic stage with your father killing Palpatine and all, the conflict is not over yet."

Luke sighed and sat back down, "I know. But you are allowed to relax, to rest, if needed. Leia's off on her honeymoon, after all. You are allowed to have a break, even without the excuse of a wedding."

He blushed slightly as he said this, but his companion didn't seem to notice.

"Leia's picking up that weird green Jedi Master, isn't he?" she asked. "That doesn't sound like a honeymoon, exactly."

Skywalker chuckled, "They dropped off Chewie on Kashyyyk, then are honeymooning on board the _Falcon_ for a full week, and _then_ picking up Master Yoda."

"Ok," Winter said with a nod. She glanced down at her holopad, "So do you have time to work with some of the _Lusankya_ survivors? General Dodonna was released yesterday ..."

"And is already wreaking havoc with Alliance Central Command, I've heard.

She smiled, "Yes, but I have five other patients who are struggling mightily with flashbacks and trauma from interrogation."

The woman handed over a holopad, her expression grateful, "You've done so much for them, Luke. I appreciate your gifts and that you've taken the time to help them, when realistically you and Leia are the heirs to the Empire. Most sentients don't expect a prince to be assisting traumatized ex-prisoners."

Luke scowled, "The day I put personal power and tradition over helping people, you have my permission to bop me over the head."

Winter laughed and shook her head, "I doubt that will be necessary."

There was a comfortable pause while both humans scanned mental health profiles.

"Winter?"

"Yes, Luke?"

"I'd like to help you with your memories of losing Alderaan. Sometime."

The Alderaanian woman laid her holopad on her knees and stared at Skywalker in bewilderment, even as she shook her head, "My memory is a weapon in our fight, Luke. Yes, it is emotionally painful at times, but I wouldn't want you to do anything to tamper with it. I wish it wasn't so agonizing when I am reminded of Alderaan, but if you destroy that memory ..."

She trailed off, as Luke was shaking his head.

"I am not planning to _destroy_ any memories, Winter. My idea was that I would try to connect the bad memories with good ones, so that when you are confronted with an agonizing recollection, it will be paired with one or more really good memories."

Winter gazed at him in amazement, "Can you do that?"

Luke Skywalker nodded, firmly, "Yes, Winter, I can. I've been working with my father and Dodonna and others and I ... I know you pretty well. But I'm not asking you to make a decision right now, just to think about it ..."

"No," Winter Celchu said, her eyes suddenly glistening with unshed tears. "No, do it now. Please, I want you to do it now."

/-

 _The Millennium Falcon_

 _In hyperspace_

 _One day out of Kashyyyk_

 _4 days later_

Leia Organa Solo opened her eyes and sat up in her bunk, her breathing rapid. What was she going to do? Why in space would the Twi'lek ambassador from Ryloth want to breed gutkurrs, anyway? They were dangerous! Maybe for gutkarr fighting in shadowy dens around the galaxy? She couldn't allow that! The gutkarrs gave her the creeps, but she couldn't allow them to be tormented for pleasure ...

Her brain caught up. It was just a dream. Just a bad dream. There were no gutkarrs, and no ambassadors. And no meetings. Just the glorious _Falcon_ with the even more glorious Han Solo, whom she had married a few days ago in front of a wonderful galaxy. (Poor Relinka Spetzv had been hauled off to the nearest med bay for recovery after the wedding, but the woman looked like she needed the rest.)

Speaking of her husband ... Leia looked around with a frown, then stretched out with her mostly untrained Force senses. He was in the kitchen area, if she wasn't mistaken.

With a smile, the last princess of Alderaan rolled to her feet, grabbed her favorite pink fuzzy robe, thrust her feet in her shaak slippers (the _Falcon_ 's flooring was often chilly) and strode out of Han's – no, _their_ – cabin.

Captain Han Solo was indeed in the kitchen area, muttering Huttese imprecations over the caf machine. It had apparently burst some kind of seal and a dark waterfall of caf had flowed down the machine, onto the table, and onto the ship's rather grimy floor.

Leia laughed aloud even as she hurried forward to help clean up the mess.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Han said glumly. "I figured you'd appreciate some caf after your long nap."

Leia smiled and gave him a quick kiss, "I don't need any caf, Han. If you'd made it, I would have happily drunk it. But reality is that we are on our honeymoon and we can sleep when we want, talk when we want, watch holos when we want, and we can ..."

She trailed off, blushing.

"Indeed we can," Solo agreed, leaning over to give her a firm kiss on the lips. He then stepped back and stared intently into her eyes, "Are you absolutely sure this is what you want, Leia? Your old man is Emperor of the galaxy. I could take you somewhere really exotic and exciting ..."

"Absolutely not," his wife returned firmly, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him into the _Falcon_ 's main cabin. She flopped down on the supremely comfortable, if rather elderly, seat near the dejarik board and pulled him down with her.

She leaned over and put her head on his chest, "Han, I've been so many places and done so many exotic things. There is nothing like this, nothing like having time together on this wonderful, crazy, derelict ship of yours ..."

"Hey!" Han interrupted in mock indignation.

Leia grinned and lifted her face to stare into his brown eyes, "This is the best honeymoon I could ask for, Han, even with a crabby green Jedi Master at the end."

Solo felt himself relaxing.

"I'm glad, Leia."

/

 _Luke Skywalker's quarters_

 _Vader's Palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _Evening_

The door to the apartment slid open, and Anakin Skywalker strode into the main living area. R2D2, who was hovering near the door, whistled softly but urgently.

Anakin patted his former droid gently and reassuringly, then quietly over to his personal (heavily augmented) chair (which wouldn't break under his great weight and deposit him ignominiously onto the floor) and sank into it with a relieved sigh.

Luke Skywalker lay asleep on a krayt leather couch, which was pushed against a large transparisteel window. The sun was setting and the distant horizon glowed red and yellow and blue.

Since his son was asleep, Anakin felt free to stare intently at the youth's face. Luke looked weary, with dark circles under his eyes. Suddenly, as if aware of his father's gaze, the youth opened his eyes and sat up with a smile which mitigated the fatigue on his face.

"Hello, Father," Luke said with a yawn. "It's good to see you. I know it was a busy day with the talks with the Alliance and Leia wasn't there to smooth things over, so I thought you might just want to retreat to your quarters and hide tonight."

Anakin snorted, "Your sister doesn't exactly 'smooth things over' all the time, my son."

Luke laughed, "That's true, she doesn't."

He tilted his head and focused his gaze on his father's eyes, so much like his own now, "Do you want anything to drink? I'm thirsty."

"Blue milk, please," Anakin replied with relish. He could drink blue milk again thanks to the improvements in his digestive tract. It was a dream come true.

Luke gestured toward the kitchen, and two bottles of blue milk came floating out a little later. Anakin grabbed his as it went floating by and opened up the cap.

"Is something wrong, Father?" Luke asked curiously, opening up his own bottle and taking a sip.

"I'm concerned you are working too hard, Luke," Anakin responded hesitantly. "I've sensed your exhaustion these last days and it seems excessive. Are you having trouble sleeping? Is something wrong?"

Luke gulped down the rest of his blue milk before replying, then set the bottle down next to him.

"No," he said, leaning back against the couch with a sigh, "nothing is wrong. But yes, I'm very tired. I've been working with Winter on some new healing techniques and they are exhausting. I realize I'm inexperienced and that's probably all it is."

"What are you doing, exactly?" Anakin asked worriedly.

Luke smiled a little, "Memory connection for Winter. She has that perfect memory so I'm pairing her extremely traumatic memories with positive ones. She says it is helping a lot. And I'm also working with some of the _Lusankya_ survivors who are reacting strongly to traumatic stimuli – traumatic being sudden noises, bright lights, that kind of thing. I realize the Jedi of the Old Republic probably did this kind of thing in their sleep, but it's new to me so, yeah, very fatiguing."

Anakin blinked in astonishment, "No, the Jedi did _not_ provide mind healing to non-Force sensitives of that kind. I certainly never did."

Luke looked startled and disturbed, "They didn't? Do you think ... do you think it's Ok for me to be doing this? Was it considered dangerous or immoral?"

Anakin leaned back, regarding his own son incredulously.

"No," he stated after a moment's thought. "No, there is nothing immoral about it. You've helped me so much, Luke, and it is clear from Dodonna's contributions to the meetings today that you assisted in his healing tremendously. I assumed that your ability to help me with mind healing was tied into our father-son connection and our own Force ability, but if you can do it with others – well, that is most remarkable. We did have healers within the Jedi Order, certainly, but the Halls of Healing were set apart for Jedi and other Force Sensitives."

He winced, slightly, then tried to cover the wince. Luke leaned forward, concerned.

"What is it, Father?"

"Vader," Anakin began, then Vader stuttered, " _I_ led the clone troopers on the Jedi Temple when Sidious took power. The clones and I slaughtered those in the Halls of Healing, both the healers and the injured."

Luke stood up now and walked over, dropping to his knees and taking his father's strong hands in his own, "It was a horrible time, Father. I don't pretend to understand your actions, but all you can do now is seek to restore what can be restored. And to forgive yourself."

"It will be difficult to forgive myself, my son," Vader responded. "Indeed, I do not deserve forgiveness."

Luke stared into his father's blue eyes, then sank down on the floor cross legged.

"Perhaps you don't," he agreed. "But I believe, as does Leia, and Alliance High Command, that the best thing you can do is walk the paths of peace and help us put this galaxy back together. If you ... were tried for murder, or just disappeared, the fragile peace would fracture and many more would die."

Anakin sighed, his great shoulders slumping, "That is true enough, my son, but the reality of my sins, of my atrocities, weighs me down."

"Sounds like you could use some more healing at Hospital Luke," his son said with a sad smile.

"Indeed," his father replied, then added quickly, "but not now. You are exhausted."

"Yes, I am," Luke agreed, throwing himself dramatically onto the couch again. "I just want to sleep."

/-

 _Dagobah_

 _3 days later_

The ramp to the _Millennium Falcon_ lowered to the ground with a wet squelch and the faint squeal of a small animal.

Han Solo walked down the ramp with his blaster out, his eyes narrowed warily. The flight down to Dagobah's surface had been extremely challenging and he wasn't at all sure where they had landed, nor where this mysterious Jedi Master might be.

"See anything?" Leia asked, walking down behind him, her boots clacking on the ramp.

"No," Han said as he reached the ground, even as he focused a broad light on the surrounding area. "Just mist, and damp ground, and ... oh!"

The mists had diminished slightly and the light now revealed a short green gnome who stood on a boulder, five meters away from the couple. The creature had long ears and dark green eyes, and was clad in a coarseweave tunic.

"Master Yoda!" Leia said as soon as she had recovered from her surprise. "I am Leia Organa Solo, and I am here ..."

"Know who you are, I do," the elf interrupted, even as he hopped off the boulder and marched toward the ramp. "Late you are! Very late! 2 days I have been waiting."

Leia blinked in astonishment, but retained her diplomacy, "My apologies, Master Yoda. My husband and I were on our honeymoon."

"Honeymoon!" the creature growled. "Attachment! Marriage! 900 years I have lived. Attachment forbidden it was for the Jedi. For good reason. Fell to the Dark Side your father did because of fear for your mother."

Leia's eyes narrowed now, "He fell because he had no support, Master Yoda. Romantic love is a reasonable and necessary part of life for most sentients. To forbid it was to invite chaos and devastation. Not that I'm excusing Vader, but I ..."

"Argue about it we can later," Yoda said firmly, reaching the ramp and starting up. "More than 20 years I have lived here. Damp. Smelly. Muddy. Moldy my clothes are. Too much root stew have I eaten. Have caf do you?"

"Urgh, yes," Solo said carefully, "the caf machine is fixed."

"Good, good! Come, come! And make room for my boxes you must."

Leia and Han watched the ancient Jedi stump up the ramp and disappear into the ship. A moment later, 4 boxes appeared out of the mist and floated into the ship after the Jedi.

The couple stared at each other in disbelief.

"This could be fun," Solo said with a lift of one eyebrow.

Leia's eyes brightened with anticipation as she leaned over and planted a firm kiss on his lips, "A few days with my beloved _and_ I get to debate a cranky ancient Jedi from an unknown culture? Yes, very fun!"

 _Author Note: We're nearly at the end now! Thanks again to my husband for his faithful editing!_


	17. Chapter 17

_Medical Bay #8_

 _Imperial Hospital #2_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _7 days later_

The Togruta female sat very still as the bandages were carefully removed from her eyes. When the last swath had been removed, she hesitatingly opened her eyes. And quickly shut them with a wince, even as an incredulous smile crossed her face.

"I can see light!" she exclaimed. "But the room is too bright."

"Turn down the lights to 25%," Doctor Sert ordered the med droid.

The room dimmed substantially, and Sert spoke softly, "Try opening your eyes again, Niria Kani."

Kani opened her eyes cautiously, then gazed around in wonder.

"I ... I can see!" she stated, her eyes brimming with tears. "I can see!"

"Excellent," Sert said with an enthusiasm which was more than professional.

/-

 _1 hour later_

"Kani's eyes are approximately 80% repaired," Sert said, shaking his head in amazement. "She was totally blind. Now she will require corrective lenses or surgery, but she is functionally sighted."

Luke Skywalker smiled in delight, "We're a good team, Doctor Sert."

"Indeed we are," the doctor returned, his brows still raised in astonishment. "Based on the medical literature, the most I expected was a 20% improvement – the ability to see light and shadow, and perhaps make out broad outlines of objects. Your Force abilities have brought about a miracle, Commander."

Luke shook his head firmly, "If there was any miracle – though I hesitate to use that word – it was definitely a joint effort. I worked with the medications that you provided. It seems like an obvious route to combine Force skills with traditional medicine, but my father says it wasn't done in the days of the Old Republic. Which is weird."

"There were many problems with old Jedi Order," Ahsoka Tano stated as she walked up behind them. "One of them was an inability to look beyond the rigid traditions of the past. There weren't enough questions about which regulations were truly wise, and which conventions were merely habitual, based on a different time in galactic history. The attachment issue was a profound one, of course. Since I left the Order, I have realized that we _were_ attached to one another. Certainly I was attached to my Master, though not romantically. And yet we were ordered to maintain the illusion of complete disassociation of love for individuals so that we could maintain an overarching compassion for all."

The former Jedi padawan glanced at Doctor Sert and smiled, "My apologies, Doctor. I know you're busy and don't need to hear my rambling. The Alliance is wondering if Niria Kani is well enough to be transferred to an Alliance ship or whether she still requires a higher level of care here."

Sert frowned, his hand stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"She's well enough to be transferred," he said somewhat reluctantly, "so long as she is not placed on active duty yet. She is still recovering from her abuse on the _Lusankya_. Her issues are, of course, both physical and psychological."

"We're putting the _Lusankya_ survivors into their own area," Tano assured him, "and we have many counselor droids and plushies available."

"Plushies?" Sert asked.

Tano's expression brightened, "Yes, like stuffed animals, you know? It turns out they are very helpful to those recovering from psychological wounds. I know there are several akul plushies available. Kani will find one a comforting remembrance of Shili."

"What's an akul?" Luke asked curiously, even as a holopad flew into his hand from across the room.

"It's a fearsome predator," Tano returned in a sunny tone, "with orange fur and an extremely powerful bite. It kills by grabbing its prey by the neck and shaking until the neck breaks."

Both men looked at her in surprise and she grinned, "Trust me, Kani will like an akul plushie. It will remind her of home."

Sert took a deep breath and nodded, "Very well. I will fill out the release forms. Thank you again, Commander Skywalker."

Luke nodded as Sert left, then turned to Ahsoka, "Do you need me for anything?"

She shook her head, "No. I just wondered if you'd heard anything from your sister and ... and Master Yoda."

Luke grinned even as he started skimming a file on his holopad, "Yes, she contacted me a few days ago. There's been lots of debating between Master Yoda and Leia, or arguing, as Solo prefers to describe it. Leia's apparently having a great time discussing various aspects of the Old Republic in general and the Jedi Order in particular. She says it has been most instructive."

Ahsoka shook her head in astonishment, "I would give good credits to have seen that. No one below the level of Jedi Master argued with Yoda in my days in the Temple."

Luke shrugged, "Times have changed, and for all our sakes, we need to change with them. The _Falcon_ will be back in a few hours. They stopped by Kashyyyk and picked up Chewbacca and it turns out he and Master Yoda know each other! From the Clone Wars!"

Tano's montrals twitched in astonishment, "Small galaxy! How do they know one another?"

Luke's expression tightened now, "There wasn't time for details, but I understand Master Yoda was on Kashyyyk when Order 66 went down. Chewie and a few other Wookiees helped him to escape the planet."

Tano took a deep breath and she closed her eyes, her own memories threatening to overwhelm her. So many good friends and colleagues had died on that dreadful day, and her own dear master had Fallen.

"Hey."

The hand on her shoulder was gentle, as was the expression on Skywalker's young face.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."

Ahsoka smiled slightly and shook her head to clear it, "It was your father that did much of the damage, Luke."

"And your former master," the other replied. The youth shook his head, "Probably we all need Mind Healing."

"Yes, we all do." Ahsoka agreed quietly.

There was a sudden beep and both Force users turned toward Luke's comlink.

"Yes?" Luke asked.

"Commander, Emperor Vader requests your immediate assistance in Sublevel 4 of the former Emperor Palpatine's palace."

"I'm on my way," Luke replied briskly, and turned toward the door.

"Luke?" Ahsoka said.

He turned around and lifted an eyebrow.

"Thank you."

/-

 _Landing Platform A_

 _The Hotel Gilanta_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

"Lady Alana," Relinka Spetzv gushed before the cams, "can you tell us when and where you'll be performing next?"

Lady Alana turned, her purple robes swaying, and smiled brilliantly into the holocam.

"Relinka, thank you for asking," she responded in a mellifluous tone, "I'm afraid that this last singing tour was quite exhausting, so I'll be taking the next few weeks to rest. After that, I plan to focus on writing and composing some new songs. I love performing, of course, and am so blessed by my many fans, but I need some time alone to fulfill my artistic needs."

Relinka's eyes widened and she clapped her right hand to her heart, "Lady Alana, all I want from you, all that the _galaxy_ wants, is for you to be fulfilled artistically. It would be an aesthetic crime to stem the tide of your glorious music."

The smile on Alana's face quivered just slightly, but she managed to maintain her soulful expression, "Thank you, Relinka. I appreciate your kind words. And now, I'm going to retreat to my suite to rest."

"Thank you for your time, Lady Alana."

Alana waved dramatically to the holocams and scurried toward a door, which opened into an elevator. She stepped inside, punched the door button shut, and turned towards Winter Retrac, who was standing in the corner.

"Winter!" Alana cried out, moving forward to embrace her white haired friend.

"Alana! It's so good to see you."

"I am so glad to be back. The mission went well, but I truly am exhausted."

Winter chuckled, "We won't throw you into the fray immediately, Alana. You'll get some rest before the next mission."

Alana leaned against the wall of the elevator and closed her eyes, "Thank you."

She maintained her exhausted position until the door opened, and then she staggered out into the hall toward her suite.

"Not that you're being dramatic or anything," Winter said with a chuckle.

"I," Alana said, keying in the code card at her door, "am a performer, thank you very much. Not just a singer, not just a dancer, but an actress. And it's a good thing I can act. The galaxy is in turmoil and everyone is going insane over my singing, of all things. If I expressed how I really felt, my cover would be blown within a standard day."

The door slid open and Winter shoved her friend toward a couch in the main living area.

"I'll get you some of that sweet wine you like so much."

"Thank you!"

A minute later, Retrac walked back into the room with a bowl of pulta nuts and a glass full of bright purple liquid.

Alana leaned back, put her feet up on the footstool, threw some nuts into her mouth, and then took a sip.

"Great stuff," she said gratefully.

"It's barbarous, actually," Winter said with a sly smile, "only an uncouth savage would like cheap Endorian sweet wine. Not the _great_ Lady Alana."

Alana threw a nut at her friend, which smacked Winter in the arm, and stuck out her tongue for good measure. Then she took another drink.

"So what have you been up to, Winter?" she asked idly.

"Skywalker and I have been working a great deal with th _e Lusankya_ survivors. I'm handling the administrative issues and he's working with the doctors and medics on the medical and psychological issues."

Alana frowned, "And how … how are they doing? The former prisoners, I mean."

"Really well," Winter stated. "Skywalker and the med staff are performing miracles together. Speaking of Skywalker, he sent me a quick message that Emperor Vader needed him urgently. Otherwise, I'm sure he would have been here to greet you."

Alana sat up so suddenly that the wine sloshed slightly, dripping onto her fortuitously purple dress, "Um, what? Why would Skywalker be here? Am I supposed to do something with him soon? Did I forget something?"

Winter stared at her friend in bewilderment, then slowly shook her head, "Um, no, Alana. I just … er … I just assumed he'd … you know…want to see you after you'd been away from Imperial City for … quite some time."

Alana stared at her for along moment, and then her mouth dropped open, "Winter, please do not tell me you believe this Holonet nonsense about me and Skywalker. There is nothing between us. You know that, right?"

Winter stood up quickly and walked over to the window, which overlooked the avian portion of the Imperial Zoo.

"He danced with you three times at the Coronation Ball, Alana."

The singer set her wine down and strode over to the window next to her friend, "Yes, he did, and he spent the entire time lecturing me about Outer Rim politics in general and the Hutts in particular. We were working."

"Oh," Winter said, blushing slightly, and then said determinedly, "But when you were here, you were going out to eat with him."

Alana rolled her eyes, " _We_ were going out to eat with him. He kept taking us to that dive in Coco Town ..."

"I liked that dive!"

Alana laughed, "Actually, so did I. But it was all about you, Winter. He wanted to be with you, not me."

Winter stared out at the Alderaan night birds flying in their lavish sanctuary nearby, then turned to face her friend, "Do you really think so?"

The other woman rolled her eyes, "It's totally obvious. Now is this when you tell me that Leia Organa is like a sister so Luke Skywalker is like a brother to you?"

Winter pursed her lips, then smiled and shook her head, "No, I don't think about him that way at all. Not that I am convinced you are right. You are beautiful and accomplished ..."

"I'm right," Alana said firmly. "Anyone with half a brain would know that he's not interested in me."

"The entire Holonet is convinced he is interested in you," Winter riposted.

"Oh, the Holonet definitely has half a brain!" Alana snorted indignantly.

/-

 _Former Emperor Palpatine's Palace_

 _Sublevel 4_

 _Imperial City_

The door to the elevator slid open and Luke Skywalker stepped out into the corridor. He took a few steps toward the bonfire in the Force that was his father, then stopped and looked around nervously.

The corridor looked normal enough – gray walls, gray floor, all no doubt cleaned obsessively by small droids – but there was a clinging, seeping Darkness here.

He shook his head determinedly and began walking again. Two turns later and he stood at a door with two stormtroopers guarding it. They opened it for him and he walked through with some trepidation, then halted in astonishment.

It was quite a large room, though cold and impersonal. To one side stood Darth Vader in all his cyborg glory, his helmet on, his arms crossed.

On the floor, sitting on square mats, were 11 girls. Around the corners of the room were four humanoid shaped droids, all black.

Luke frowned in bewilderment as he walked slowly toward his father, his gaze flitting from one child to another. Their age range spanned 6 to 10 years, he estimated. Each child sat cross legged on a mat, and the mats varied in color from black to silver to white.

Each child was Force Sensitive.

" _Father, who are these girls?"_ Luke asked telepathically.

" _They are potential Emperor's Hands,"_ his father replied quietly. The cyborg was trying to shield both his thoughts and emotions, but Luke knew his father well enough to sense the former Sith was in turmoil.

 _"Hands?"_ the youth asked in bewilderment.

The great helmet swung toward him now, " _Force Sensitive children taken from their homes at a young age and raised to be servants of the Emperor. There can only be two Sith, the Master and the Apprentice, but Palpatine utilized selectively trained Force Sensitives as assassins and agents. These girls are in the selection process."_

Luke's heart clenched within his chest, " _And their parents permitted this?"_

Vader stared at him but did not speak, and his son closed his eyes in horror.

" _Their parents were killed?_ " he asked.

" _Almost certainly,_ " Anakin responded softly, " _and likely before their eyes."_

Luke's jaw clenched and for a moment he was filled with rage. How could anyone, anyone do such a thing to a child?

He forced himself to take several deep breaths, to release his anger. The anger itself was not, he convinced, wrong in any way. The former Emperor's actions were horrific. But right now, right here, were 11 little girls who needed help.

Luke turned to face the girls again, extending his Force senses. The little girls remained seated, their gazes fixed on the gray floor, their faces unnervingly stoic, their Force senses muted.

 _"They are remarkably closed off_ ," he commented through the Force, _"but I can tell they are both hungry and frightened."_

" _We found them when one of our communication technicians received an emergency directive from their caretaker droids that they had run out of food. It appears their human handlers fled a few days ago, leaving the girls locked up alone here."_

Luke shook his head. Again, how could anyone ...?

"I'll contact Winter and Doctor Sert," the young man said out loud. "We'll have them checked out medically and feed them, and then we'll arrange for safe living quarters for them all. Perhaps ..."

He switched back to telepathic communication now, " _Some of them may have living family somewhere, don't you think?"_

" _Perhaps,"_ his father replied grimly.

Luke stared at the cyborg intently, and a moment later a brief vision slipped through his father's shields.

( _"Master Skywalker, there are too many of them. What are we going to do?"_ the tow headed boy asked. The room was dark, and the lights glimmered through the windows, and there was fear, and determination, and hatred, and the raging fury of the Dark Side ...)

Luke blinked and stepped back a half step, suddenly overwhelmed by his father's feelings of self-loathing and guilt.

" _I ... I murdered Jedi younglings, my son,"_ Vader whispered through the Force. " _Little ones, like these children."_

Luke took a deep breath, stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around his much taller father. The man stood rigid for a long moment, then relaxed slightly.

" _I do not deserve forgiveness."_

 _"You can't bring those children back, but you can help these kids, Father."_

Vader nodded wearily and spoke aloud, "I will ensure that you have all the assistance you require."

Luke glanced back at the girls, who were still sitting rigidly, then asked softly, "Did he only use females?"

Anakin shook his head, "We are searching for the males."

His son closed his eyes in distress, then looked up at the ceiling and smiled, "Wait! Leia's back!"

"Indeed," Vader responded coolly, "and Yoda is with her."

Luke switched back to Force communication, " _Can you handle this, Father? Or are you going to chop him to bits and saute him for dinner?_ "

" _I doubt even my substantially improved digestive tract could handle a 900 year old cooked Jedi,_ " his father replied drily.

Again, Luke stepped forward, this time raising his hands to clasp his father's broad arms, " _Father, everything has changed. The Order fell. We've got Ahsoka, who left the Jedi. We have you, a former Sith. Leia's incredibly strong willed, and I'm quite an independent thinker. Yoda will be a valuable resource, but he won't be directing us. Please ... let him live._ "

The (former) Sith stared down at his son and smiled behind his mask, "You have your mother's goodness, and her wisdom, my son."

/

 _Author Note: I loathe the taste of alcohol. I don't have a moral problem with it in moderation, but ugh! Give me something sweet. A couple of days ago, I had a dream in which I was drinking 'sweet wine' and liking it, and people around me were giving me a hard time, so of course I had to incorporate that idea into my chapter. Many thanks for those of you still reading this fanfic. And thanks, dear husband, for your beta'ing._


	18. Chapter 18

_Emperor Vader's private landing platform_

 _Vader's palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _30 minutes later_

The landing ramp of the _Millennium Falcon_ lowered to the ground, and Leia Organa Solo, clad in a flowing white robe, strode down with her husband close behind.

"Your Highness, Ahsoka," she stated with a courteous nod towards both sentients.

"Princess," Vader responded formally. He had shed his mask and wore dark robes on his body. He found himself staring intently at his daughter's lovely face. She looked _so much_ like Padme.

Leia's brow crinkled now, "Is there something wrong with Luke? He seems ... disturbed."

Anakin nodded tersely, "He is safe, but we encountered an emotionally distressing situation. He is dealing with it now, which is why he is not here to welcome you and Captain Solo and Chewbacca."

"And Master Yoda," Leia responded with a slight smile, turning as the tiny gnome hobbled down the ramp halfway, then stopped. This was, Anakin realized, a sensible position as it meant he didn't have to crick his neck excessively to look down on the diminutive Jedi Master.

"Yoda," Vader growled, his hand settling on his lightsaber as if magnetically attracted.

"Vader," the small Jedi responded, his hand drifting to his own weapon, which was at his waist.

"No fighting," Leia ordered forcefully. "Master Yoda, I believe you have something to tell my biological father?"

There was a pause, and then the wrinkled, green face saddened, "Sorry, I am, that your wife died. Good woman was Amidala."

"You told me to let her die," Anakin responded after a surprised moment.

"Which makes me crave your death at my hands," Vader continued.

"You heard the woman," Solo said with surprising bravado. "She said, no fighting."

The ancient Jedi's ears drooped slightly now, even as he kept his eyes fixed on Anakin's scarred face, "Knew I did not that of Amidala you spoke. Thought dreams of Obi-Wan's death you had. A warrior he was, and a war we fought. Death came to many."

"If I had told you of our marriage, I would have been cast out from the Order," Anakin replied in frustration.

The old Jedi's walking stick came down with a thump on the ramp, even as he cast a nervous glance at Princess Leia.

"Attached you were, Anakin Skywalker. Fell you did, and the Jedi Order with you. Dangerous is personal love, for it leads to fear ..."

"Fear is not the problem," Leia countered in frustration. "The issue ..."

"Stop!" interrupted Yoda, his eyes widening. " _Stop_!"

Vader growled slightly and took a step forward as Solo stiffened. How dare Yoda speak to the princess like this ...?

"Exhausted I am," the green elf continued in indignation. "More than 20 years in that swamp, to snakes and lizards only I spoke. Weary I am with debating Amidala's daughter for last days. Explode my brain will! A rest, I need, a rest!"

The tension dissipated, and Leia chuckled, "Very well, Master Yoda. Ahsoka, can you escort Master Yoda to his quarters?"

"With pleasure," Tano said with an amused grin even as she turned to leave.

Chewbacca, who had been hovering in the _Falcon_ , stepped forward, picked up Yoda and placed him on his shoulder, and marched toward the elevator.

Leia waited until the three had disappeared before turning to Anakin, "Can I see Luke now?"

/-

 _Female Prospective Emperor Hands' Quarters_

 _Former Emperor Palpatine's Palace_

 _Sublevel 4_

 _Imperial City_

 _20 minutes later_

The door slid open and Leia, hand in hand with her husband, hurried into the large and antiseptic room. In spite of herself, she shivered slightly. Vader had given her a quick description of the situation here, and it was heartbreaking.

Luke was standing in the middle of the room with Winter at his side; he looked up at his twin's entrance and a moment later, he was rushing toward them.

"Leia! Han!"

"Hi, Kid!" Han said with a smile, even as he released his grip on his wife so she could run to her twin.

"Luke!" the princess cried out, grasping his hands and gazing intently into his face. She had thoroughly enjoyed her honeymoon and felt vaguely guilty about leaving her brother to deal with their unstable Sith Lord father and Imperial and Alliance shenanigans. But he had insisted that she and Han get away, and Luke looked well, if tired. No surprise there, given the current galactic turmoil and Luke's vital position as son of the Emperor.

She opened her mouth to ask a question when a door slid open to one side of the room and two individuals stepped out. One was Doctor Sert, whom Leia knew personally. The other, a Twi'lek female, was dressed in the dark blue uniform of the Alliance medical staff.

Both nodded at the twins and Solo, and Sert spoke grimly.

"Several of the girls are malnourished, and all but one girl show signs of physical abuse,"

Luke clenched his teeth, "They were beaten?"

"Yes."

"Doctor Moira," the youth asked of the Alliance doctor, "what is your psychological assessment of the girls?"

"They need to be removed from this facility immediately," she stated uncompromisingly.

Luke frowned, "You don't believe that they would benefit from the stability of familiar quarters?"

"They were beaten and starved and mentally tormented here, Commander," the psychologist responded drily, "so, no."

"I see your point," Luke responded. He paused, thinking, then continued, "What would be the ideal location for their mental and physical improvement?"

The doctor sighed, "An area with grass and trees and abundant vegetation and sunshine, but none of those are easily available on Imperial Center."

"Furthermore," Leia chimed in, "there are security concerns. The girls are Force Sensitives and Emperor Vader says he does not know the location of the adult Emperor's Hands, though he has agents searching for them. These children might be a target by forces attempting to take down my father's regime. We need somewhere for them to recover where they can also be safe ..."

Solo, hitherto silent, spoke now with an impish gleam in his eyes, "I have an idea ..."

/-

 _Frant's Amazing Emporium_

 _50 km north of Imperial City_

 _4 hours later_

Theon Frant scowled at his friend and accountant, "But we're close, Mattin. I know it's a bit risky, but we've been waiting for two years now to open the new location ..."

Mattin sighed and nodded, "I know, Theon. But reality is that the next 60 standard days are typically the slowest of the year. If we commit funds to the new emporium on Corellia, we may fall behind on payments both here and there. More than one company has bankrupted itself though aggressive expansion. I want to expand as much as you do, but the time just isn't quite right."

"It never is," Frant whined. Then laughed.

A beep interrupted them, and Theon frowned at it even as he punched a button, "I told you I didn't want to be disturbed."

"Sir," the voice of his floor manager was positively shaky. "Sir, we need you at the main entrance now."

"Why?" Frant demanded impatiently.

"Please sir, we need you!"

The com cut out and Frant and Mattin stared at one another in bewilderment for a moment, and then Frant was on his feet and rushing towards the main entrance.

To his relief, the building was still standing and there weren't hordes of flying insectoid Klisnats flying around bumping into his merchandise. On the other hand, Frant fully understood his floor manager's near hysteria.

"Your Highnesses?!" he asked incredulously, rushing to greet Princess Leia Organa Solo and her consort, Han Solo, plus Prince Luke Skywalker. Frant's guilty pleasure was watching the Holonet celebrity gossip channels, so he recognized the humans easily enough, but _why_ were they _here?_

Skywalker and Solo were staring at a holopad in the prince's hand; both men were dressed in surprisingly plain clothing, and the princess was wearing a simple white robe.

The princess looked up with a smile, "Proprietor Frant? My apologies for our sudden arrival, but we have a very urgent need for a variety of items ..."

"We need partitions," Solo said suddenly, jabbing a finger toward the holopad. "Each girl should have her own space. I know from experience that a place of one's own, even a small one, is comforting."

"Partitions," Skywalker repeated, his fingers flying on the holopad, then suddenly turned to the door.

"Oh no," Frant thought in horror, as the doors slid open to reveal the truly behemoth, terrifying form of Darth Vader, all black armor and asthmatic breathing.

"Hello, Father," Skywalker said in a cheery tone.

"Son, what have you done?" the cyborg snapped back in what was clearly an irritable tone.

"You said you'd give us all the resources we needed for the young Hands," the youth replied, a clear smirk on his young face.

"You ... you have set loose those hellions in my private palace!"

Princess Leia stepped forward with fire in her eyes, her elegant finger pointed at the tall Emperor's breastplate, "They. Are. Children!"

Vader huffed loudly enough to be heard through the vocoder, and shook his head, "I was not referring to the young Hands, Princess. I was referring to those hooligans known as Rogue Squadron, led by Antilles. He was painting a refresher pink and purple when I left. I _did_ leave so that I did not accidentally strangle the man."

The woman turned on her heel to face her brother, her eyes wide with astonishment, "You turned Rogue Squadron loose in our father's palace?"

Skywalker's expression was a mixture of guilt and devilry, "They were available, and we needed security for the girls. Just temporarily. And Wedge is actually quite a gifted artist. I promise they will merely beautify the wing where the children are being kept. The rest of the palace will be left a cold, barren, sepulcher gray."

There was a strangled sound from the Emperor and he turned on his heel and marched deeper into the store.

Skywalker actually chuckled and nodded toward Frant, "Leia, Han, why don't you work with Frant here and I'll go after Father and try to calm him down? Ok?"

"Get out of here, Kid," Solo said with a wave of the hand.

Twenty minutes later, Frant was nearly floating with delirious happiness as credit signs danced in his head. The myriad purchases would easily fund the Corellian expansion. And to have the Emperor and his family as private clients was truly glorious!

"I think that's about it," Solo said with a nod, "for now, anyway. We'll probably think of more later but this will get the girls set up ..."

The princess's com rang and she answered it, listened briefly, then looked at her husband, "We are needed back at Alliance Headquarters in two hours, Han. So we'd better wrap this up."

"Then we'd better go chase down your father and brother," the Corellian said cheerfully.

Frant looked around the store in a dazed way. Where had the Emperor of the known galaxy and his son gotten themselves to ...?

The princess tilted her head, as if seeking direction, then turned and marched away with Solo and Frant (his head filled with visions of blankets and partitions and mattresses) in pursuit.

The Emperor and his son were in the southwestern-most room in the giant facility, and Frant nearly fainted when he followed the princess through the door.

Emperor Vader had removed his mask, displaying a scarred face and blue eyes like his son. The son in question was standing with his head tilted up toward the ceiling, where at least ten model spacecraft were flying in pirouettes. Some were Imperial, some were Alliance, some were trader and pirate ships. All were held up by an unseen Force, apparently controlled by vagrant whims of the young prince, who was gesturing with both hands towards the models.

"The Advanced TIE model's wing curvature is inaccurate," the Emperor stated in what could only be construed as a grumpy tone.

"Relax, Father," the other man said with a sunny smile. "Just enjoy the moment. These are awesome! Look, Super Star Destroyer!"

A moment later, a 1 meter long depiction of the Super Star Destroyer _Executor_ lifted off of a high shelf a few centimeters, hovered briefly, then fell back.

"I can't manage the Star Destroyer and my ships at the same time," the young man said with disappointment. "Can you help me out, Father?"

The Emperor sighed rather dramatically and lifted a hand. A moment later, the model was floating in the middle of the room.

The Emperor glared at it, twisted his lips thoughtfully and grinned reluctantly, "They are pretty neat."

"Aren't they?" Skywalker gushed enthusiastically. "You know what? We should buy a bunch of models. I bet some of those young Hands would enjoy putting them together ..."

"We should start with X-wings and TIE's," his father responded. "They are a simpler and less elaborate than the Star Destroyers ..."

"True, though I can imagine some kind of group bonding activity putting a Mon Calamari ship together with all those cool bumps on the outside..."

Han chuckled, "We'll need to knock both of them on the head to get them out of here."

 _/-_

 _East Wing of Emperor Vader's Palace_

 _Anteroom outside the young Hands' quarters_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _12 hours later_

"Luke!?" his sister demanded in astonishment

Her brother lifted his head from the datapad and rubbed a weary hand across his bloodshot eyes, "Hey, Leia? Back already?"

"It is 0500 hours, Luke, it is morning! Have you been up all night?!"

Her brother groaned and nodded, "The girls are having trouble sleeping so I've spent the night going in and soothing them with the Force. Poor things. They were starved physically and emotionally, abused, and now they are in a new place and they don't know what is going on so of course they aren't sleeping well ..."

Leia shook her head and rapidly typed a few commands into her com, then looked up, "Go. To. Bed."

Her brother looked woebegone but determined, "I can't, Leia ..."

"Yes, you can. Ahsoka is on her way down, Master Yoda is on his way down. We'll take care of the girls. I do feel sorry for them, Luke, but losing your mind from lack of sleep isn't helpful."

She reached over and grabbed her brother's wrist and hauled him to his feet.

"Wow, you are mighty and strong for a tiny little thing," Skywalker said with a tired laugh.

"To bed!"

"Can I eat first?" he asked meekly

Leia smiled and nodded, "Yes, eat something really quickly and then sleep. I'll make sure the galaxy doesn't fall apart while you get some rest."

"Thanks, Leia."

He stumbled toward the door and then stopped and turned around, "I haven't even met Master Yoda yet. Maybe I should wait?"

"No, you don't want to meet Yoda when you are exhausted. He can be supremely annoying."

The youth nodded and took a few more steps, then turned around again, "I'm falling in love with Winter, Leia."

Leia Organa Solo heaved a deep sigh, "I know, Luke. It's obvious. We. Will. Talk. About. It. Later. Go to bed!"

 _Author Note: There will be no Mara Jade in this fic. I decided to try something different in the "romance for Luke" department._


	19. Chapter 19

_Author Note: A clever person pointed out in a comment that Winter Celchu is really Winter Retrac, so I changed her name to that. Celchu was her married name in the Legends universe._

 _Random Meeting Room_

 _East Wing of Emperor Vader's Palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _12 hours later_

"Why wish you become Jedi?" Yoda asked, his eyes on Luke Skywalker. The youth was seated courteously on the floor so he was at eye level to the old Jedi Master, who sat on a stool near the large window overlooking a warehouse. It wasn't the most inspiring of views.

"I don't think I do wish to become a Jedi," Luke replied politely but firmly.

The Master cast his eyes wearily toward the ceiling, even as Leia, seated on a nearby couch, chuckled aloud. Solo, who stood behind his wife with his hands on her shoulders, shot Skywalker a cocky grin.

"Why here you are, then?" Yoda demanded.

Luke smiled now, "I'm sorry, Master Yoda. I am not intentionally frustrating you. The truth is that I ... I feel called to a life which focuses on using my Force powers to heal people physically, mentally, and emotionally."

The old master leaned forward now, "Jedi healers, we had in the days of the Order."

The youth nodded vigorously, "I know, Master Yoda. My father told me about them, and it sounds like they were gifted and committed individuals. But they worked only with other Jedi, and only healed Force Sensitives, right? I want to work with traditional healers and doctors, and I want to work on everyone, not just Force Sensitives."

The old green elf stared at the young man for a long moment, then leaned forward and closed his eyes even as he lifted one claw toward the young man. Luke forced himself to relax through the Force probe. His father had taught him rudimentary shielding but he wanted the old master to understand his commitment and desire to help others ...

"Much power you have, young Skywalker," the Master said gravely, even as the old eyes opened, "as powerful as your sister you are. A great warrior could you be."

Luke shook his head gently, "Do wars make one great? I don't think so."

Now the aged face stretched into a smile, "Wise, that is, young Skywalker. Wise indeed. Like Amidala your mother."

Yoda leaned back and tilted his head, "So what want you from me?"

Luke sat up straighter, "I want to learn more about healing. The doctors and I have managed quite impressive improvements in some patients, including my father, but it's largely been trial and error. Anything you can teach me to safely heal others, mentally and physically, would be great."

Again the intent stare, and again a nod from the old Jedi, "Can do that I will, young Skywalker. Help you I will."

"Thank you," Luke said genuinely.

"And what of you, daughter of Alderaan?" Yoda demanded now, turning towards Leia.

"I do wish to become a Jedi," Leia replied firmly, "though obviously with substantial changes from the Old Order. I'm married, for one thing."

"That you are, sweetheart," Solo said with a smirk.

Yoda shot a cranky look at Solo, then nodded slowly, "Why wish you become Jedi?"

"Because of my father," Leia responded, "my biological one. He fell so hard and so far and brought about such devastation. I believe the Jedi Order _should_ rise again, though a new order of Jedi with necessary alterations from the past based on the knowledge of the last years. I hope, with all my heart, that Luke and I, and even Anakin, can ... can help restore the galaxy from the darkness of Palpatine and Darth Vader."

The old master gazed at her thoughtfully, "Hard work, Princess Leia Organa, it will be. But strong you are. Yes, teach you both I will."

"Thank you, Master Yoda," Leia responded, "Luke and I have talked about this a little, and if you agree, we think I should start formal training first. Luke is the more visual twin in the galactic eye, and Anakin depends on him more than on me."

"Hmmm. Yes, yes, start with you I will, Leia Organa of Alderaan ..."

He broke off and abruptly looked at the door to the suite, as did Leia and Luke. Solo tensed and reached for his blaster.

A moment later, the door slid open and Wedge Antilles and "Hobbie" Klivian burst through the door with a rampaging horde of little girls at their heels. Behind them all lumbered the giant form of Chewbacca the Wookiee, who had a small girl riding on his shoulders. Chewie had to duck nearly double to get safely through the door with his rider.

"Water fight, water fight!" Hobbie howled, lifting his water pistol and shooting a stream of water at a startled Luke. Leia grinned and launched herself toward the Rebel pilot, toppling him and grabbing one of his two water guns. The girls streamed into the room and began squirting water at the occupants with surprising accuracy. Luke rolled behind the couch, waited, then popped up in time to knock Wedge over and steal his gun. Solo grabbed Hobbie and wrestled him to the floor.

"Girls, attack pattern Delta!" Wedge shouted, causing the girls to shift into a pincer movement.

"Really, Wedge?" Luke yelled, taking a squirt directly into the face.

Emperor Vader, accompanied by Winter, arrived at the meeting room two minutes later to a scene of utter pandemonium. The room was filled with shrieking girls and his son, wearing the broad smile of a Tatooine native in close contact with plenty of water, was twirling in the center of the room blasting his assailants with a large water pistol. Master Yoda, seated on a stool near a window, wore the familiar look of a sentient who had expected a calm day and was abruptly confronted with the insanity that was the Skywalker twins and their volatile companions.

The Emperor's arrival ended the battle, as the girls froze in obvious terror and Antilles and Klivian at least had the courtesy to stop shooting and straighten to something akin to a military position.

Luke turned as well, his face broadening into a delighted smile, even as he flung some of the water off his face with the Force.

"Hello Father," he said cheerfully, "what's with the mask?"

Belatedly, Anakin realized he was still wearing his mask, which was weird because he hated it, but he had forgotten ...

"Winter and I were meeting with members of the Smuggler's Alliance," he replied, even as he removed his mask and floated it to a nearby table. The girls, who were standing in a frozen position, quivered slightly at the sight.

"Gotcha," Luke replied with a sympathetic smile. He knew how much Anakin despised the mask, but it had been generally agreed that the Vader persona was necessary during this complex season in galactic history.

"So ...?" Anakin inquired, with an all-encompassing gesture at the soaked room and occupants.

"The girls were getting restless," Wedge responded with a total absence of fear, "so we decided that we'd combine some former battle training with some fun. Luke and Leia and Han needed some exercise too. It isn't healthy for anyone to sit around too much."

"Wish to sit around I do," Yoda growled. "Old, I am."

"My apologies, Master Jedi," Antilles responded with an easy dip of the head, then looked around at his young charges. "All right girls, it is snack time! Who wants some dweezel sticks dipped in chocolate?! And some sweetened blue milk?"

The younger girls hopped up and down in excitement and even the older girls, who'd had more years of harsh indoctrination, smiled in clear delight.

A moment later, 10 of the 11 girls were marching out the door behind Wedge, with Hobbie bringing up the rear. Luke stepped forward before Chewbacca could lumber away, and smiled up at the little girl who had shimmied around to grasp the giant Wookiee around the chest.

"Just a second, Chewie," he requested, and then looked at the dark haired girl. She had surprisingly pale blue eyes, and looked all of six standard years old.

"I'm not going to hurt you, sweetheart," the youth said gently, even as he reached forward to touch her back. The girl clung tighter to Chewbacca, but didn't move.

Luke closed his eyes and concentrated as the rest of the occupants of the room stared at him in bewilderment.

A long moment later, he opened his eyes and nodded, "This little one has a Force sensitive twin brother, and I've located him. He's in ... in a converted office building about half a kilometer from here. I think there are other potential Hands there as well."

Leia ran a quick hand over her rather damp hair and nodded determinedly, "Ok, let's go get those kids out of there!"

/-

 _Rebel Ship Liberty_

 _In orbit around Imperial Center_

 _Dining Room B_

 _24 hours later_

"I'm so glad they are in better shape than the girls," Winter said, reaching over for some salt and shaking some on her convor eggs.

"Yes," Leia agreed fervently, spearing a piece of bantha patty from her plate and shoveling it into her mouth. "Thankfully, the boys had one loyal caretaker who stuck with them and made sure there was food, so at least they weren't starving. Still, they needed out of that horrid environment. Frankly, I think what Luke did was amazing. Even Yoda was surprised he was able to follow the twin bond of the girl to her brother."

Her eyes misted, "You should have seen when the little twins were reunited after being torn apart by Palpatine's agents. It was so precious."

"Luke probably recognized it because of your own twin bond," Winter said with a smile, "though I agree that Luke is amazing."

Leia lifted her head and stared directly into her friend's face for a long moment.

"Good," she said firmly, then looked self-conscious.

Winter blushed and took a few bites of convor eggs before having the courage to speak, "So ... do you think he's ... really interested in me, Leia?"

Her friend rolled his eyes, "It's totally obvious, Winter. In fact, he told me ..."

The princess trailed away, then stated, "I have no intention of figuring as a go-between for you and my brother. We're not teenagers. You two need to talk."

Winter sighed, "As if that's easy. I mean, it seems like we rush from one meeting or project or crisis to the next."

Leia frowned thoughtfully, "True."

/-

 _Main living area_

 _Luke Skywalker's quarters_

 _Vader's Palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _The next morning_

 _Absurdly early_

Luke Skywalker ran a bleary hand across his eyes, gulped down his caf, and winced. It was _very_ hot. Which was, he supposed, all to the good. He needed something to wake him up after an exhausting day rescuing Force sensitive male potential Hands, followed by being ambushed by Holonet reporters and having to leap over a fence at his father's palace to get away. Vader/Anakin had been supremely annoyed, but fortunately no one had died.

He lifted his eyes from his cup and stared morosely at his sister. Leia was standing at the door, also with caf, but she looked far more chipper than anyone should at this unearthly hour.

"I'm sorry, Luke," she said, not sounding sorry at all, "but you and Winter have been starships passing in the night and I'm sick of it. You need to talk about this budding romance of yours."

Winter, seated across the table from Luke, blushed at these very candid words, and then relaxed as her male companion blushed as well. She had spent the night in the Organa-Solo's guest room and had been quite surprised to be dragged out of bed in the dark and hauled off to Skywalker's quarters. She looked, and felt, exhausted, but Leia was a force unleashed when she was determined.

"You couldn't find another time?" Luke asked wearily, though he smiled at Winter to lighten his tone and words.

"No," Leia said briskly, "you are both insanely busy and the next 3 days are jam packed with already scheduled activities. And given our lives, something else will come up. No. I decided now was the time. Now I'll leave. Talk!"

She exited with a swirl of green robes, leaving Luke and Winter gazing at one another with a mixture of exhaustion and trepidation.

"So," Luke said carefully, "it's not worth fighting Leia over this, and she's right, its time. I'm just going to be direct. I'm falling in love with you, Winter."

Winter blinked but remained silent, causing Luke to cringe, "I'm sorry, is that too blunt?"

Now the white haired woman smiled and shook her head, "No, not too blunt. Your directness is refreshing. I'm just ..."

She paused and looked at the table, "I'm in love with you, Luke, but are you ... are you sure? I'm ..."

She stood up now and strode over to a window, staring out into the pre-dawn darkness, "I know I put up a good act on the outside, but I'm a broken person. Alderaan ..."

The memory came to her again, stark and powerful, of that moment when an aide had stumbled into her room in the Alderaanian embassy on Hosnian Prime and told her, and told her ...

The anguish in her mind and spirit was immediately wrapped in other, better memories: of her biological mother cradling her in her arms as an infant, of Leia taking her horseback riding on the plains east of Aldera, of her glorious tenth birthday party when the Organas had given her a pair of much loved Monga-snakes for pets ...

She looked up, surprised, to see that Luke had joined her at the window and was gazing at her seriously.

"I just thought of Gus and Moe, my Monga – snakes," she said with a reminiscent smile, "I haven't thought of them for years."

"I decided you could use another good memory tied to Alderaan," he replied gently, "so I connected it the last time we worked together."

She grinned, momentarily forgetting the serious nature of their discussion, "Your sister was furious. She hates snakes. She kept saying ' _Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?!_ ' until Aunt Breha told her to stop."

There was a pause, and Winter looked directly into Luke's eyes, "You've literally been in my head, Luke. Is part of this attraction towards me entwined with pity? Because I don't think that's a healthy start to a romantic relationship, for one party to pity the other."

Luke moved back slightly to give her more room, even as he sighed, "I grieve for what you went through, Winter. I grieve for what Leia went through on the Death Star when our father tortured her. I grieve that I came home to find my aunt and uncle's burning corpses in front of the only home I ever knew."

He moved away restlessly and began pacing, "Realistically, I'm a backworld farmboy who is the son of the Emperor, who used to be a homicidal Sith Lord. I murdered a million sentients when I destroyed the Death Star. I lost my family and my home. I'm broken too in some ways. I think we all are."

Winter stared at him from the window, focusing on his intent face, his blue eyes ...

"Well, let's ... let's see if we can make this work," she said rather unsteadily.

He turned and turned a blazing smile on her, "Sounds good to me."

Then his face drooped worriedly, "Wait, though. What about the Holonet reporters? They are like parasitic mynocks. They _will_ figure out that we're involved."

Winter grinned and swept her hair up into a serviceable bun, "Trust me, Luke, I can handle it. In fact, let's have them figure it out right now, shall we? How does Dex's Diner sound for a ridiculously early breakfast?"

Her companion chuckled, "Lead the way!"

/-

 _Random Office_

 _Darth Vader's Palace_

 _3 hours later_

"Vader has me meeting with some Outer Rim politician," Leia explained, giving Han a quick kiss. "I should be done in an hour, then I'll process some reports, and I hope we can meet for lunch at 12 hundred hours."

Solo nodded, "Sounds good, Leia. The _Falcon_ 's weapons system is knocking and sparking again so we'll work on that."

She smiled and turned away, entered the room, and stopped in startled astonishment.

Pooja Naberrie, dressed in a dark blue dress, rose to her feet and threw her arms around her friend, "Leia! How are you?"

"Pooja?" Leia returned with incredulity. "What are you doing here?"

"The Emperor requested my presence," Pooja replied with a wry twist of the lips, "though he refused to say exactly why he wanted me to meet with you."

Leia paused and stared at her slightly taller friend, even as her eyes filled with tears, "Pooja, I know this is going to be a shock, so we'd better sit down."

She guided her former senatorial colleague to some comfortable chairs by the window and they both sat down. Leia stared at Pooja intently, noticing for the first time the familial similarities ...

"Leia, what is it?" Pooja asked worriedly.

She took a deep breath, "Pooja, I'm sure you've realized that Darth Vader was formerly Anakin Skywalker, but I assume you don't know that ... that your Aunt Padme was my mother. You and I are first cousins, Pooja."

/-

 _Holonet gossip channel_

 _Evening edition_

"This morning, Luke Skywalker was caught with the mysterious Winter, companion of Lady Alana, the singing sensation, at Dex's Diner in Coco Town. Sources who wish to remain anonymous say that romance is brewing between the white haired lady and the gallant prince ..."

/

 _Vader's private chambers_

 _Vader's Palace_

 _3 days later_

"We need to find new housing for the young Hands," Vader stated firmly (if silently).

 _"I agree,"_ Anakin responded in his head. " _Thanks to Luke and Doctor Sert and other medical professionals, they are back to full physical strength. But Imperial City is not a particularly healthy place. They need ..."_

"Sand?" Vader responded snarkily.

Anakin shuddered to the depths of his soul, " _Not sand, certainly. No, Imperial Center is far better than Tatooine. But the psychologist said grass and trees and fresh air would be good for the children, and those are in short supply here._ "

"I am more concerned that my patience will snap under the continued puerile onslaught of Antilles and Klivian," the Dark Lord replied sulkily. "Did you see those Jedi proverbs they spray painted on the walls in the East Wing of the palace?"

" _Are you certain that wasn't Luke's doing?"_ Anakin asked cheerily.

A pause.

"No, I am not," Vader admitted, "or even possibly Leia's doing."

Another pause.

" _Hey, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"_ Anakin asked.

"Assuredly, since we are one and the same," Vader replied.

" **Varykino!** " both said together.

 _Author Note: Merry Christmas season to those of you who celebrate. Thanks to my wonderful husband for editing._


	20. Chapter 20

_The Millennium Falcon_

 _Hyperspace_

 _En route to Naboo_

 _3 weeks later_

"Take her out of hyperspace when we get to Naboo, Ok, Chewie?" Han requested.

Chewbacca growled in agreement and Solo rose from his captain's chair and walked briskly into the main cabin of the _Falcon_. His wife sat on a worn but comfortable seat next to the dejarik board, her hands holding a holopad. Her gaze, however, was fixed vacantly on a distant wall.

Solo sat down next to her and gently reached over to pry the holopad out of her hand, which he proceeded to toss carefully on the dejarik board.

She sighed aloud and leaned against his chest.

"What's wrong, Leia?"

Another sigh, and the dark haired woman grimaced slightly, "I'm nervous about meeting Pooja's family. Well, _my_ family."

She sat up now and turned to face him, her eyes boring into his, "Our mother Padme was _amazing_ , Han. She was elected queen of Naboo at 14. 14! She fought in battles and wrote incredible speeches and was a champion for democracy. She was beautiful and brilliant and brave!"

"And you're not?" Han replied incredulously. He was, privately and publicly, of the view that his wife was the most amazing, awesome, gorgeous, heroic individual in the entire galaxy.

Leia shook her head, "Oh Han ..."

She stood up now and began stalking around the cabin in her agitation, "Look, I don't have any ... any problems with self- image, exactly. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, and mostly comfortable with who I am, though I'm well aware I'm not as likeable as Luke. But I am not Padme. My grandparents, and my aunt, and my nieces, and the miscellaneous Naberrie relatives, all lost Padme far too early. Here I am, their long lost relative, Padme's daughter, and I am a politician, and I look so much like her. But I'm not my mother. I'm me. I'm just fearful that they will expect me to be like Padme when I'm Leia. I'm afraid ... yes, I'm afraid they won't like me."

Han rose to his feet and walked over, pulling her into a hug. For a long moment, they stood silently and then Han said firmly, "They might not like you, Leia. And if they don't, that's there loss. You can't make them like you, but the only reason they wouldn't is if they're a bunch of space skrubs."

The last princess of Alderaan lifted her face to stare at her husband in amazement, and then her face softened into a smile.

"You're right!" she said with the air of someone discovering a great truth, "I can't make them like me. They will or they won't. Lots of people are weird, and our relatives may be odd after all they've been through. We'll just do the best we can to start a relationship on the right arm, and see how it goes. Thank you, my dear. Your practical wisdom is just one of the reasons I love you."

"That and my rugged good looks," Solo said with a cocky grin.

The _Falcon_ suddenly shook gently as she came out of hyperspace, and both humans looked up.

"We've arrived at Naboo," Leia stated.

/-

 _Varykino_

 _Naboo_

 _45 minutes later_

"What if she doesn't like us?" Sola Naberrie asked worriedly, standing up to plump the pillows on the turquoise green couch one last time.

"Mother, Leia is a delightful person," Pooja said, smiling kindly at her mother. "Keep in mind, though, that she isn't ... she isn't Aunt Padme. Truthfully, I think she has quite a bit of Uncle Anakin's fire."

"I hope she isn't _too much_ like Darth Vader," her sister Ryoo said rather coldly. Ryoo Naberrie was standing at the window, staring out at a garden of red and yellow stalistis. She kept her back turned to her mother and sister.

Pooja opened her mouth in protest, then closed it. Ryoo was 3 years older than Pooja, and remembered Aunt Padme, and her death, far more clearly than Pooja did. Ryoo also no doubt remembered the young, passionate Jedi who had come to Varykino to protect their aunt and had proceeded to lay waste to much of the galaxy as a Dark Lord of the Sith.

"Both Leia and Luke have, I believe, our aunt's commitment to the peoples of the galaxy," Pooja said gently. "I don't pretend to understand what happened to Anakin Skywalker, but Leia says he joined Palpatine to try to save Padme. In the process, he lost himself; he disdained and destroyed the life and liberty of many, which is horrific."

"So ..." Ryoo began, turning to face the door. She stopped speaking when the door slid open and their blue protocol droid stepped in, followed by two humans and a giant Wookiee.

"Madames," 2-NR2 stated gravely, "may I introduce Captain Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa Solo, and Chewbacca."

For a moment, Sola Naberrie's breath caught in her throat. This was not Padme, of course it wasn't, but the woman's face was as beautiful, and noble, and determined as Sola's lovely sister who had departed life too soon …

The girl's expression was nervous, now that Sola was paying attention.

Her niece – _her niece_ – had her own reasons to doubt her welcome, no doubt. She was daughter of Padme, yes, but also Emperor Vader's child …

Sola stepped forward now, impelled by love and grief and joy.

"My dear princess, my dear Leia, welcome to Varykino."

/-

 _The Cerulean Bantha_

 _65 km east of Emperor Vader's Palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _Imperial Center_

 _5 p.m. local time_

"Pah," Cranton Jet grumbled, glaring at the grungy façade of the restaurant in front of him.

His holoman, a phlegmatic and generally silent Togruta named Sol, merely reached for his holocam and exited the closed speeder which had brought them to this dingy area of Imperial Center

Cranton climbed out after him and sauntered toward the front door, one hand on his blaster. This was not the best of places, though Sol was a great shot and strong to boot. But still, this was a dangerous locale, and regrettably was almost certainly a total waste of time.

"We probably followed some low level sanitary worker," he grumbled, "out for a night on the town."

His companion shrugged, "The boss said follow anyone who came out of the southeast exit of the palace. If it's a bust, at least we can get something to drink."

Jet scowled irritably at the darkly tinted windows. He could barely make out dim figures moving around inside, but he couldn't see if they were human, nor what they were doing.

"Not sure it's safe to drink anything mixed here, Sol," he returned wearily, stalking to the door and opening it with an incredulous glare. He literally had to open the door by pulling on a _handle_. What kind of backwards place was this?

He stepped into the anteroom, which was (not surprisingly) deserted at this hour. A moment later, he walked into the restaurant itself and halted in sudden surprise. Four Stormtroopers stood just inside the door, blasters clutched in their hands.

Cranton stared, wide eyed, then turned his attention to the apparent proprietor of the establishment, and elderly man dressed in bland, tan robes.

"I'm sorry, sir," the man said courteously, "but the restaurant is closed for a private function."

"But I just saw …" Cranton replied, then was interrupted by a voice from the far side of the room.

"It's Ok, Windskimmer," a male voice called from the other end of the room.

Jet lifted his eyes and froze in incredulity. It looked like, it looked like …

"As you wish, Your Highness," the man called Windskimmer stated with a bob of his head.

Part of Cranton's brain wanted to leap up and down for joy. It was Prince Skywalker, and the mysterious Winter, both dressed in boring robes like the restaurant's proprietor. They were accompanied by a dark robed man. The latter was tall and sepulcher and mysterious, with his cloak covering his head and mouth. Only his blue eyes showed. No doubt the individual was a bodyguard to the prince? This was the tabloid holojournal opportunity of a lifetime!

The other part of him was totally off balance. He had been expecting a palace minion, not royalty. What, he wondered indignantly, was the Prince doing taking his new romantic interest to a place like this, and flying here in a rather derelict speeder from the servant's entrance of the palace?

"Please, won't you both join us?" Skywalker asked courteously, rising to his feet and gesturing to the empty chairs across from the three sentients already in residence.

Jet gulped and shook his head feebly, self-interest warring with journalistic avidity, "We would hate to interrupt you, your Highness."

Skywalker grinned with the smile which made approximately 16% of the galaxy's occupants absolutely refuse to consider that the youth was actually related to Darth Vader. The young man was just too _cute!_

"No, that's quite all right. We were expecting someone to track us from the palace. We wanted to talk to someone like you. It's your lucky day, Mr …"

"Cranton Jet," the woman named Winter continued smoothly. "Formerly of the Imperial Holonet Network. You were replaced by Cray Shifton five years ago after an interview with the Hutt princeling Grotto went wrong when a hundred gorgs, intended for the prince's dinner, escaped their enclosure and rampaged through the Holonet network, interrupting Ysanne Isard's latest dull speech on Imperial security issues. You lost your job, and were fortunate not to lose your life. Now you work for the celebrity gossip holojournal _Solar Flare_ , where you are their 3rd highest paid reporter. "

Jet gulped with a mixture of terror, awe, and embarrassment. The gorgs. Yes, his whole life was shadowed by those gorgs. His brain caught up now. How did Winter Retrac know this of him?

"I don't know your companion, however," Retrac said with a smile at Sol, who had loyally followed Cranton into this unsettling situation.

"Sol, my lady," the Togruta responded courteously. "I'm Jet's holocam being."

"Welcome to you both," Skywalker said with a welcoming gesture. "We don't want you around for long, but we were hoping to have a quick chat. First of all, we're here because I'm originally from Tatooine, and I wanted to introduce Winter to some of the food from my youth."

Jet brightened openly. Sentient interest story! Wonderful!

"So, er, this establishment is called the _Cerulean Bantha_. Is the bantha, er, from your home planet, your Highness?"

"Indeed," the prince said with a smile.

"It is a foolish name," the dark robed man grumbled, speaking for the first time in a strangely hoarse voice. "Banthas are brown, not cerulean."

"Be nice," Skywalker said with a reproving look toward the other, "the skies of Tatooine are cerulean. And it's reasonable to have a clever name for this place."

The rather mammoth shoulders shrugged, "My apologies, Son."

Jet froze. Sol froze, for about two seconds. Then, with amazing boldness, the latter raised his holocam to point it at, at …

"My father," Skywalker continued patiently, "has been undergoing a variety of medical procedures, which has resulted in much improved health. We're celebrating by having dinner here. My father also spent his early years on Tatooine ..."

There was a very soft snarl from the Emperor, and the young man smiled slightly and continued serenely, "... and we both love well cooked bantha steaks and the jerked dewback meat is also excellent. Windskimmer makes a mean eopie cream pie as well."

"Indeed he does," the Emperor muttered more agreeably, spearing a bite of some pastry like dish and maneuvering it through the hood which covered his lower face. Jet gritted his teeth; this was indeed a fantastic opportunity, but to really throw a pentashock, he needed to see the Emperor's entire face. Perhaps if he 'accidentally' jostled the man ...?

His sovereign's face lifted now and suddenly the blue eyes were boring into Jet's own brown eyes, and there was just the briefest squeeze around the holojournalist's windpipe.

"Father, be nice," Skywalker said again, reprovingly. He nodded toward the entrance now, "I suggest you two get out of here now."

"Yes, your Highnesses," Kranton babbled, retreating quickly with Sol in hot pursuit. Once outside the restaurant, the human took a deep breath, relishing the slightly fetid air entering his lungs.

"Sol, as soon as we get back to the speeder, call the Boss. We've got the story of the year!"

/

"That was a foolish waste of time," Anakin grumbled.

"Not at all, your Highness," Winter said smoothly even as Luke took an ecstatic bite of jerky, "first, the galaxy will learn that your health has improved and you no longer need to wear the mask all the time. Second, we introduced Tatooine food to the masses; mark my words, Tatooine food will be the latest fad, which can only help the farmers and settlers of Tatooine. The Hutt stranglehold on Tatooine in particular, and the Outer Rim in general, has loosened since Jabba was poisoned with frogs. Even a minor improvement in trade relations between the Core Worlds and the natives of Tatooine will be helpful in eradicating not only Hutt power but also the slave trade. I've done the analysis of supply routes and I have no doubt this meal will, oddly enough, be of great assistance to the Empire and the peoples of the Outer Rim."

Anakin blinked at Winter, then turned to Luke. His hood gaped open now, revealing his scarred cheeks and amused smile.

"Your young lady is, to be honest, rather scary at times," he said in a respectful tone.

Luke laughed aloud, "In a good way, Father. In a good way."

/-

 _Deck, overlooking the Lake_

 _Varykino_

 _1 hour later_

"My parents, your grandparents, are elderly now, and we thought it would be best to have you meet them tonight after the initial introductions here." Sola Naberrie said. She was standing against the railing of the main deck, and she stared with affection at her niece, who was gazing out at the waters of Varykino with rapt attention.

"I appreciate that," Leia said with a smile. "You've been very welcoming but I'll admit all this is quite ... quite emotional. I admit that I don't know a great deal about my mother, but seeing this place, where she grew up, helps me feel closer to her."

She gave her husband's hand a squeeze. Solo, who was clearly a pillar of strength for the young princess, smiled and spoke up now, "Leia, did you want to bring up, you know?"

Leia hesitated, "Maybe later?"

"If this is about using Varykino as a safe locale for the young Hands," Pooja said firmly, "then the answer is yes. Luke talked to me about it, and since then our family has discussed it at length."

Leia looked startled, then shook her head, "Are you certain? I don't want you to feel pressured and truthfully, these younglings are ... they are ..."

Chewbacca roared, and Han Solo translated softly, "Broken."

Ryoo, who had been largely silent during the meeting, spoke up, "Yes, we are sure. Your mother, my aunt, was committed to the needs of the weak and impoverished and abused. Varykino has been largely spared the horrors of war, and we have more than enough space in the retreat for the children."

Leia hesitated for a long moment, then nodded, "Thank you so much. Varykino will be perfect for them, though we will need augmented security to keep them safe from those who might seek to use their Force powers. We'll also make sure they have enough guardians to look after them. They are quite a handful."

Chewbacca roared in agreement and Solo chuckled aloud, "If you have any water pistols, you'll want to hide them."

/-

 _The Solar Flare nightly broadcast_

"Citizens of the galaxy, we have breaking news. Emperor Vader, his son, Prince Luke Skywalker, and the lovely Winter Retrac had dinner at the Cerulean Bantha tonight, and gave a private interview to our very own Cranton Jet. The Emperor and his son revealed that they are both natives of the Outer Rim desert planet of Tatooine and absolutely LOVE the taste of fresh cooked Bantha ...

/

 _Menarai Restaurant_

 _Imperial City_

"I want eopie cream pie on the menu tonight!"

"Yes, sir."

/

 _Relinka Spetzv's talk show_

 _Imperial Holonet Network_

 _3 days later_

"Designer Quiltratz," Relinka gushed, "we have only two weeks until Imperial Fashion Week and I, along with the sophisticated beings of the galaxy, can hardly wait!"

Ransome Quiltratz leaned back and lifted his famously insured right eyebrow, which was currently dyed to match Relinka's cerulean hair, "I assure you and your viewers that this year's fashion week will be bold and exotic, as the new Tatooine fashions take the galaxy by storm. Winter Retrac and Prince Luke are, of course, the fashion icons of the year, perhaps the decade. Those dusty robes, those tattered boots, the avant garde decision to actually cover the head with a hood at times. Amazing! I predict that the truly daring will even dress with a faux Bantha head protruding from their bodies ... the image is exquisite!"

 _/-_

 _Random corridor_

 _Emperor Vader's Palace_

 _1 week later_

"Winter!"

Winter jumped slightly and turned toward the door which had just opened in the corridor.

"Luke! I thought we were meeting in your apartment!"

"Yeah," Luke agreed, stepping forward and gently guiding Winter out of the corridor and into the unmarked room. "But I decided to meet you here, 'cause Rogue Squadron keeps finding me and harassing me about being a fashion icon."

Winter chuckled and looked around with interest. The room filled with tools and droids in various stages of construction. R2D2 was sitting on a bench and was partly disassembled.

"What are you doing to R2?" she asked curiously.

"I'm trying to fix his booster jets. Father tells me that he used to be able to fly, basically. A long time ago. Somewhere along the line, his jets failed and I'm hoping we can get them working again."

Winter arched here eyebrows, "Given the cocky and erratic personality of this droid, is it really wise to give him back the ability to fly?"

R2D2 whistled indignantly, and she laughed softly, "I'm just kidding, R2. You're wonderful."

The returning beeps indicated that the droid agreed with her.

"So how did the meeting with the doctors go?" Luke asked, sitting down and leaning over R2's innards."

Winter sighed and sat down on a surprisingly comfortable chair, "It went well. We've located an aunt and uncle of the twins we rescued, but the parents were killed when the children were taken by Palpatine's agents. Three more of the young Hands have living relations who are interested in adopting them as well. However, Doctor Moira suggests that we move all the younglings to Varykino for at least a season, and have the relatives come there to spend time with them before they take them home. The children are Force trained to at least a minor degree, and all have ... issues."

Luke looked up and nodded, "I know. I agree that's the best way to go, for the children _and_ for their families. I want those kids brought up by people who love them, but if we just throw them into families as is, I'm afraid there will be major issues. Leia and I talked this morning, and their quarters are ready at Varykino."

He sighed now and closed his eyes briefly, "Leia and I were lucky, very lucky, that we were adopted as infants and that neither of us ..."

He trailed away, and Winter nodded, "I know. That Palpatine never got hold of either of you."

"And that Father didn't find us earlier, really. He admits he was a total wreck after Mother died, and he wouldn't have been able to withstand Palpatine. He trusted the man for a long time until it became obvious that Sidious was a total, self-absorbed, selfish, manipulative, cruel, brutal rancor."

"Yes," Winter said softly.

There was a long, comfortable pause as Luke struggled with a contrary circuit, and Winter leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. The last few days had been filled with meetings and more meetings and she was so tired ...

"Winter?"

She sat up and looked at Luke, who had put down his tool and was staring at her intently.

"Yes?"

"Winter, will you marry me?"

The woman's eyes widened, and then she chuckled. Trust Luke Skywalker to propose marriage in a grimy workshop.

"Yes," she responded firmly. "Yes, Luke. I would love to marry you."

/-

 _Terrace overlooking the Lake_

 _Varykino_

 _6 weeks later_

Anakin Skywalker stood at the back of the crowd of beings who stood watching Luke Skywalker and Winter Retrac join in marriage.

The sun was bright, the skies were blue, the wind rustled in the leaves of the trees, and Anakin was transported, joyfully yet painfully, back to the day more than 20 years ago when he had married Padme in this very place.

This wedding, at least, was not at all a secret.

The former youngling Hands, who were now living in the west and north wings of Varykino, were standing in a group staring with wide eyes at the solemn ceremony taking place before their eyes.

Chewbacca the Wookiee, one of the only beings in the galaxy who actually loomed over the former Sith Lord, stood to one side, a bowcaster in hand, more to intimidate any rabid holojournalists than anything else.

Relinka Spetzv, her hair dyed a subdued brown, stood beside Lady Alana, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Rogue Squadron, their uniforms uncharacteristically tidy, were arrayed behind the children.

Leia and Han were serving as best man and woman, and both wore broad smiles as Luke and Winter exchanged their vows.

"By the authority given me," Admiral Akbar stated firmly, "I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Cheers rang out and the children leaped up and down in excitement, even as Luke and Winter embraced and kissed one another.

And Anakin Skywalker, to his surprise, felt tears of joy form in his scarred, but partially healed, eyes.

 _Author Note: An epilogue and then we are done. I will then get back to_ Dalam Enterprises _, which I have neglected for months. Merry Christmas!_


	21. Epilogue

_Skywalker House_

 _Varykino Island_

 _The Lake Country_

 _Naboo_

 _5 years later_

 _1 p.m., local time_

Winter Skywalker shut the door of her elder son's room and walked into the living room of her home. She sat on her favorite blue couch, then allowed her body to fall sideways even as she groaned dramatically.

"Hard day, huh?" a voice said from the entry room door.

Winter rolled to her feet instantly, then rushed forward to hug Leia Organa Solo, "Leia! Oh Leia, I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow!"

"I got in a little early," Leia replied with a fervent hug of her own, "I've got meetings tomorrow with the Jedi Council in Theed but I wanted a day to catch up here. And rest."

"Sit down, sit down," Winter said with delight. "Luke is off doing something ... "

"He's at the hospital," Leia said with a smile as she sat down on a very comfortable recliner. With a touch of the Force, she raised the footrest. "We had a quick talk telepathically and he'll get here when he can. He's teaching an advanced class in Force healing."

C-3PO walked into the room from the kitchen and lifted his mechanical arms in astonishment, "Mistress Leia! How delightful to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, 3PO," she responded warmly. "Are the children keeping you busy?"

"Oh my, yes, Mistress Leia!" the golden plated droid responded. "Just this morning, young Master Aiken poured an entire container of engine lubricant onto the workshop floor. Then Master Owen rolled around in it! I've spent the last hours cleaning the children and then the floor! I am so thankful that both boys are taking naps now before they get into anything else."

"I'm thankful too," Winter replied with a chuckle. "I adore the children to the ends of Naboo, but they are more or less crazy whenever they are awake. I'm thankful that Aiken still takes naps. Pooja tells me that her three year old gave them up a few months ago. I. Would. Die. Thank you so much, C-3PO. I could never manage the children without you."

"It is my honor to serve you, Mistress Winter," the droid said with a quick bow. "May I serve refreshments? Perhaps the chocolate blue milk you both like so much?"

"Yes, please!" Winter replied with a smile.

"Water for me, Threepio," Leia chimed in. "And some fungus crackers if you have them."

The droid marched away and Winter sat up to stare at her friend in amazement, "No chocolate milk, Leia? You love that stuff."

Leia pursed her lips and blushed slightly, "It doesn't agree with me right now ..."

Winter stared at her, at first in confusion, then with dawning awareness.

"Really, Leia! Really?"

"Yes!" Leia cried out, leaping to her feet, "Yes, Winter. I'm pregnant!"

Her sister-in-law also rose to her feet and quickly threw her arms around her petite friend. She knew that Leia's three year long season of infertility had been a great struggle for both Leia and Han. This was wonderful news!

"How far along are you, Leia?" she demanded. "And how are you feeling?"

"10 weeks, and lousy," the princess replied with a twinkle in her eyes, even as she sat down on the chair again with a sigh. "I am _so_ tired and nauseous."

"You need to scale back on your Jedi responsibilities," Winter said worriedly. "Making a baby is hard work."

Leia leaned back and smiled slyly, "Yes, it is, and making two babies is even more work."

Winter shrieked, though softly enough so that there was no chance of waking up her own precious terrors, "Twins! Oh Leia, how wonderful!"

/-

 _Meeting Room #5_

 _Emperor Vader's Palace_

 _Imperial City_

 _Coruscant (formerly, Imperial Center)_

 _Evening, local time_

"As you wish, your Highness," Mon Mothma said with a courteous inclination of her head. Anakin nodded back and thankfully retreated from the room to leave Mothma and her cohorts to discuss the latest anti-slavery initiative. Much had been done and the intragalactic slave trade had largely been stamped out, but there were still regions where slaves had yet to be freed. Anakin, with the full agreement of his children and allies, had made emancipation of the slaves his highest priority in the coming year of his reign.

The elder Skywalker hurried into an elevator and waited impatiently for it to rise to the roof of his palace. He was just in time. The nondescript light freighter _Star of Shili_ was just settling down as he stepped out of the lift. He strode over as the ramp lowered, and a minute later Ahsoka Tano walked down with Commander Rex behind her.

"Snips!" Anakin said happily.

"Skyguy!" the tall Togruta responded, gently punching her former master in the shoulder. "Can't wait to get out of here, huh?"

Anakin grinned, even as he relished the reality that he _could_ smile with ease. His skin was 90% healed now thanks to Luke's Force healing combined with appropriate traditional medication. As an added bonus, he could now go out in public with his face unmasked without having small children run and scream in terror.

"Yes, I am eager to leave for Naboo as soon as possible," he stated. "But I am also delighted to see you both. Commander Rex, how are you?"

This was more than a courteous question. He was most eager to hear whether ...

"I am very well, General," Rex responded courteously. "Your son and Doctor Sert worked intensely with me for more than 20 hours of treatment, and together have successfully halted and healed many of the health issues associated with the cloning process. In many ways, I feel like a new man. Since my health is so much improved, many clones are gathering even now in our special wing in the hospital near Varykino for treatment."

"That is truly excellent news, Commander," Anakin said with a sigh of relief. The vast majority of the clone troopers had died in battle, or from health issues due to accelerated aging. Those remaining had been carefully tracked down in the last few years, their chips removed, their well-being finally made a priority of Anakin's administration. But it appeared that Luke and Doctor Sert had successfully broken the final barrier. Rex and his living brothers now had hope of a reasonable life span.

"And since Rex now has a good chance of living a few more decades," Ahsoka stated in an uncanny echo of his own thoughts, "I've told him it's time for us to get married!"

Anakin blinked and then grinned affectionately, " _You_ told _him_?"

Ahsoka wrapped a loving arm around her longtime companion and friend and nodded firmly, "Yes."

"With your permission, your Highness," Rex said gravely.

"Or without your permission," Ahsoka chimed in snidely.

Anakin chuckled and nodded, "You have my blessing, both of you."

"But you had best take good care of my former padawan, Rex," Vader added darkly.

"Take care of me?" Tano demanded indignantly. "You do realize I'm older than he is, and more experienced."

Anakin stared at her fondly, then turned his gaze on his Clone Wars colleague, "Then you are blessed indeed, Commander Rex. I know well the joy of being married to an older and wiser woman."

/-

 _Chewbacca's home_

 _Built in a Wroshyr Tree_

 _Kashyyyk_

 _2 hours after midnight local time_

The night had been full of joy, celebration, and more than enough Corellian brandy. But now the flames in the fireplace had died down, the extended clan members had left, leaving only Chewbacca and close relatives. And Han Solo.

The Corellian ex-pirate, son-in-law to the Emperor, husband of Leia Organa Solo, one of the Heroes of the Liberation of Kashyyyk, leaned sideways to wrap a slightly drunk arm around his loyal copilot.

"Thanks a lot, buddy," he semi-slurred. "This Paternity Ceremony means a lot. I'm so excited and thrilled, but I'm also kinda nervous."

Chewbacca commented at some length in Shyrriwook, with his nephews and uncles adding encouraging growls.

Han nodded and his eyes closed, "Yeah. Being a father just seems like such a big deal, especially of probably Force sensitive twins. But you're right. Leia's great. I have you, and Luke, and Winter and ... Rogue Squadron ... and the Naberries ... and ..."

He yawned hugely and leaned against his furry companion.

And fell asleep.

/-

 _Medbay #6_

 _Varykino Hospital_

 _5 p.m._

"Please head home, Luke," Doctor Lenz Sert said with a smile. "I know your sister is waiting for you."

Luke nodded and smiled, "Thanks, I will take off, but at midnight I'll check on the clone troopers who underwent advanced treatment today, Ok? So don't come back in."

Sert frowned, "Are you certain? I'd be glad to ..."

"No," Luke said firmly. "You've got an infant daughter at home plus a 3 year old son, and I know the havoc generated by both. Winter tells me that Pooja is exhausted from the late night feedings and she needs your help tonight."

"Very well," Lenz replied with a smile. "Thank you. Though Rayna and Alica are helping a great deal with Theo, thankfully. They've been a wonderful addition to our family and I think they are happy, even though neither Pooja nor I is Force Sensitive."

Luke patted Sert on the arm and smiled reassuringly, "Leia and I both know from experience that having loving family is the most important blessing for a child, regardless of whether the parents are Force sensitives. Thank you again for adopting the girls. We can and are taking care of the Force training, but you're doing the heavy lifting of providing a safe and nurturing home for those two former Hands-in-training."

Sert smiled, thinking of his rambunctious family of four children. "It is a privilege."

/-

 _Jedi Training Center_

 _Near Varykino_

"All right, dinner time!" Aralina Silk said with a smile, shooing the children and teens out of the room and toward the dining hall. The older teenagers gathered up their particular small charges and guided them out into the corridor, where the enticing smell of bantha patties lured most of the young ones, and the damp smell of Klatooine paddy frogs attracted the lone Huttling in residence.

Silk, a former Emperor's Hand herself, had been on the run from Darth Vader and the Empire for a full year after Vader had ascended to the Throne. She had then been captured by the Emperor's Jedi daughter, imprisoned, treated for injuries, mind healed by the Emperor's son, and recruited by Master Yoda himself.

And she couldn't be more grateful for what her life had become.

"How are you, Master Yoda?" Aralina asked with some concern, turning to face the ancient Jedi, who was seated on a padded stool on the floor.

"Tired, I am," the old elf stated wearily. "Exhausted, even. Most energetic, the young ones are."

Silk smiled even as she stepped forward to lift the Jedi Master onto her shoulder, "Princess Leia sent a message just this morning that she will be eschewing off-planet missions for the foreseeable future, so perhaps she'll be able to assist in teaching?"

"Perhaps," Yoda agreed, finding his favorite gimer stick in this pocket and beginning to gnaw on it happily. "Only two more days with this group of young ones anyway, then away they go home and another week we have before next group arrives."

Aralina nodded gravely, "Yes, and while I know that periodic 6 week sessions with Force sensitive children was not the norm in the days of the Jedi Order, I believe the children are doing well. Having a loving family, whether biological or adoptive, is a gift for these children and teens. I have no doubt they aren't learning as quickly as the Jedi younglings in the Temple did, but it's not like we're asking them to face a Sith Lord with almost no training ... I do hope they are also more stable emotionally."

"Old days have passed, new days have come," Yoda replied thoughtfully. "Much unknown about the future of the Jedi. But thankful, I am, for all that has been achieved."

/-

 _The Star of Shili_

 _Coruscanti space_

Anakin Skywalker did his last pre-flight checks as he prepared to enter hyperspace. He could barely wait to join his son and daughter, and their spouses and children, to relish the incredible joy of family after more than 20 years of complex and anguished separation.

He glanced briefly at Coruscant, steadily receding behind his ship. Ahsoka and Rex were entirely capable of administrating the Empire in his stead, and Piett and Mon Mothma had forged a surprisingly firm alliance along with other loyal leaders of both the Empire and the former Rebel Alliance.

He could safely take a vacation.

Anakin stretched out with the Force and punched the hyperspace drive. Through the viewscreen, the stars blended into the familiar lines of hyperspace.

Next stop, Naboo.

 _Author Note: And that's it! Thank you for all of those loyally following and reviewing this fic. Thank you, dear precious husband, for your faithful editing and fun additions. Happy New Year!_


End file.
